Apple Wins iPod Antitrust Suit
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - A jury in California took four hours to find that Apple didn't break the law by not allowing music from competitors to play on iPod music players.
The verdict came after a two-week trial in federal court in Oakland, California, in which plaintiffs who bought iPods between 2006 and 2009 stated that Apple blocked music from competing services to be played on the devices through software updates.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the suit claimed an alleged eight million consumers were harmed were harmed, and they were seeking $350 million in damages, the Wall Street Journal reported. This could have been tripled if had they won.
According to CNET, iTunes 7.0 contained a security feature that disables a consumer's iPod if songs from competing music stores had been detected. This required iPod owners to restore the device to factory settings and deleting the songs.
The article stated that under the Sherman Antitrust Act a genuine product improvement cannot be considered anti-competitive, even if it harms competitor's products.
Jurors found that Apple's iTunes updates were genuine product improvements, CNET reported.
Multiple news outlets stated that the plaintiffs were going to appeal the decision.