Im opposed to DRM - but Im almost as equally opposed to Real Networks and their crap software that used to cause me endless problems fixing other peoples machines. ........... The claims in the case harken back to a time when iPods and the iTunes music store were fast becoming the center of Apples business. In 2004, Real Networks launched a new version of RealPlayer that competed with iTunes. Real made songs from its own digital music store mimic Apples FairPlay system so that music bought from Real could play on iPods. They called the compatibility feature Harmony. Apple responded with an update in 2004 that, among other things, stopped Harmony dead in its tracks. Software brinksmanship took hold, as Real updated its compatibility software, and in 2006 Apple introduced iTunes 7.0, another update that blocked Real. In this lawsuit, plaintiffs are claiming the anti-Harmony measures in iTunes 7.0 broke antitrust laws, because it had the effect of illegally raising the price of iPods. Users were continually forced to either stop playing any songs they had bought from the Real store, or convert them to a non-DRM format, for example by burning the music to CD and then ripping the CD to their computer. That produced lock-in to the iTunes environment and increased consumers switching costs, the plaintiffs argue. Apple countered that there was no evidence its pricing committee even took Real or its Harmony system into account when it set iPod prices. It also noted that Real had less than 3 percent of the online music market in 2006, when Apple released iTunes 7.0
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 01:40:54 +0000
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