Antitrust laws could cost Apple $1 billion in iTunes monopoly case

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  • Reply 61 of 81
    splifsplif Posts: 603member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post





    Obviously I'm not the only one - there's $1B worth of others. And what were my alternatives then. Thankfully Amazon offered an alternative to later purchases which I can now play on any device. This is why I've never bought an iBook.

    It's about the freedom of my purchases.

    Please check the history on this topic. You're FOS. Do you think music is now DRM free because of Amazon?

  • Reply 62 of 81
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    pazuzu wrote: »
    Bingo. Very good- I was wondering when I would be called up on that. Yes I remember those ITunes updates - those cat n mouse games against real player's files and crippling them out. Not letting anything in I can actually understand. I don't like not being locked out from playing on other devices or playing on other peoples non Apple devices. But the root of the issue which cuts both ways is Apple insisting on DRM. Was it to protect the music industry or to sell more iPods. Let the courts decide. Steve Jobs has left an email trail which should put it all together.Apple insisting on DRM. Was it to protect the music industry or to sell more iPods. Let the courts decide. Steve Jobs has left an email trail which should put it all together

    It wasn't Apple that insisted on DRM. Apple had no choic but to use and enforce DRM if they wanted to sell digital music back then. The record label demanded that. Read this then come back: http://web.archive.org/web/20080517114107/http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic
  • Reply 63 of 81
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by malax View Post

    So the question is how many people bought an iPod thinking that they would be able to play music from some source other than the iTunes music store?  Probably everyone, and they were right.  Apple supported lots of open standards and most of the music on iPods was ripped from consumers' CDs using iTunes.  Now what about people who thought that Apple would support DRM-encumbered music from other sources?  First, how many people are we talking about?  Thousands maybe.  BFD.  And anyone who expected that were deluded and didn't base their expectation on anything that Apple every said.  Ridiculous law suit.  I hope it gets thrown out before it gets to a jury.


    Exactly this. The lawsuit is about not being able to put content from other stores onto iPods. NOT about playing content from the iTunes store on other devices. At one point Real figured out how to connect their store app directly to iPods. Apple broke that in an update. The lawsuit alleges this was to intentionally hurt Real - not for any legitimate business reason.

     

    "The complaint was first filed against Apple in 2005, and originally centered around RealNetworks and Apple's efforts to block songs from its [RealNetwork's] storefront to be transferred to iPods. The lawsuit took issue with Apple's "refusal to license FairPlay technology to other companies,"

     

    The lawsuit is about other companies not being able to put DRMed content directly on iPods. All the blathering about copyright and playing content on other devices is troll feeding.

  • Reply 64 of 81
    Am I missing something here?

    "The lawsuit claims that Apple violated federal and state laws by issuing software updates in 2006 which prevented iPods from playing songs not purchased on iTunes."

    This is completely false. iTunes has always allowed any DRM free music to play on the iPods. All of my music that was ripped from CD played on the iPod since day one - ALWAYS. The issue here was that the music from other sources had their own DRM which prevented it from working with iTunes/iPods and Apple might not have written code to work with that DRM. That is not illegal. As a matter of fact, it was Apple who was the force behind removing DRM from music by pressuring the studios.

    The next line about iPod prices being "higher than they would have been," is completely off base. It's illegal for Apple to set prices for their products? What country am I living in? Can someone please help explain this to me because I am befuddled.
  • Reply 65 of 81
    jfanningjfanning Posts: 3,398member
    Try playing a DVD for Japan in another region and see what happens. DVDs will NOT play in any player

    I can put a DVD from any region in my dvd player and it plays, what are you talking about?
  • Reply 66 of 81
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    Consumers had a choice of buying other mp3 players.

    Why should apple be forced to do what hurts their Buisness?
    If one does not like what apple ecosys provides.. Go buy a different product! Planty available ... There is or was no monopoly !
  • Reply 67 of 81
    Originally Posted by jfanning View Post

    I can put a DVD from any region in my dvd player and it plays, what are you talking about?

     

    Remind me, you’re the fellow in Tokyo, right?

     

    There are region-unlocked players, but they’re not prevalent. Apple, when it sold products with disc drives, did not sell them unlocked. You had FIVE region switches before it locked to the last one. And then you’d be stuck.

  • Reply 68 of 81
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

     

    Remind me, you’re the fellow in Tokyo, right?

     

    There are region-unlocked players, but they’re not prevalent. Apple, when it sold products with disc drives, did not sell them unlocked. You had FIVE region switches before it locked to the last one. And then you’d be stuck.




    "Region-free" DVD players which can be purchased, but I have no idea if these are technically "illegal" or not.

  • Reply 69 of 81
    I've never understood this case for a few fundamental reasons

    1) you could always load mp3s and ripped music on any iPod

    2) I have always viewed Apple devices and services as a closed ecosystem. (If that is a good or bad thing is another discussion)

    3) it is similar to Xbox360/One, PS3/4. Closed ecosystems. I can not buy a game on one and expect it to play on the other. Physical or digital.

    4) apple never hid the fact that music or media purchased through the iTunes Store was tied to there ecosystem. It was in the first iPod/iTunes keynote.

    4) And at the time the DRM was required by all publishers and conent owners to allow any digital sales. Apple was not alone in this
  • Reply 70 of 81
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

    "Region-free" DVD players which can be purchased, but I have no idea if these are technically "illegal" or not.

     

    Given that the RIAA wanted to make ripping a CD illegal, there’s no doubt that someone, somewhere wants to pretend they are. However, there’s no way they could be.

     

    I never have checked if my HD DVD/Blu-ray drive is unlocked, but the SuperDrive is; my Irish DVDs are upstairs somewhere, I think.

  • Reply 71 of 81
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    my Irish DVDs are upstairs somewhere, I think.

    They're by the bar. :lol:
  • Reply 72 of 81
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post



    Absolutely.

    There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to play my iTunes music or movies on any device I want I.e. Kindle Fire, Smart TV, etc because it's my music not Apple's.

    Slam dunk case. I've been wanting this to go to trial for years.

    here is where you fail to understand, you never owned the content the content owners made that very clear, thus the reason for DRM, which was written into the Telecom act of 1995 which required that any copy righted material in digital format must have DRM and no one is allow to remove it. Also there is no laws on the books with required any company to license their technology to over companies. 

     

    Plus you could have put your content on a CD which infact would have removed the DRM and allow you to transfer the content to any playing device you like. Apple also made this very clear but the record companies did not want this widely known. The bad guys here are the content owners.

  • Reply 73 of 81
    jfanningjfanning Posts: 3,398member
    Remind me, you’re the fellow in Tokyo, right?

    There are region-unlocked players, but they’re not prevalent. Apple, when it sold products with disc drives, did not sell them unlocked. You had FIVE region switches before it locked to the last one. And then you’d be stuck.

    All my standalone DVD players I have purchased are region free, in fact all DVD players sound in NZ should be region free, if not you should return them. There is no law here saying you can remove the region coding function from your DVD players, as there is no law against parallel importing.

    On my Macs and PC I would use software to remove the region coding
  • Reply 74 of 81
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post







    It's MY content- I paid for it. It's not Apple's and should not be be frozen to an Apple device. It's not that difficult to comprehend.

     

    It wasn't:-

     

    Step 1 Use iTunes to burn a CD from your music.

     

    Step 2 Rip CD however you want, use "your" music wherever you want.

     

    This method has been round since almost the beginning of iTunes, it's Apple thumbing their nose at CONTENT OWNERS who imposed the restrictions.

     

    Comprehend that!

  • Reply 75 of 81
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post





    Again you can play it on ANY DVD player not just a Sony.

    Again - NOT a brain twister.



    These HD DVD's don't seem to work, I bought them to go with my X-Box.

     

    Now what were you babbling on about then?

  • Reply 76 of 81
    jonljonl Posts: 210member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by FreeRange View Post



    Actually it's not your music, or Apple's. It belongs to the music companies, song writers and musicians. You are only granted a license to use it. Period. It was in fact the music companies that required the DRM, and there is absolutely no reason why Apple should have had to "share" their technology or innovations with anyone else.

    If you objected to the system, no one was forcing you to buy into it. Maybe it would have been nice if Apple had decided to build a universal music player that would play DRM'd music from whatever source, but they chose to build one and limit it to DRM'd music purchased from iTunes (plus of course non-DRM'd music). BFD. A lot of people decided that was OK, while others chose not to partake.

     

    If Real should prevail, the implication is, "Once hacked, you must accept the hack and support it forever." Ridiculous. Next thing will be a class action for failing to support FLAC. I mean, an iPod is certainly capable of playing FLAC, but it doesn't. How is that fair?

  • Reply 77 of 81
    pazuzu wrote: »
    I love Apple but loathe fanbots.

    "This is the reason people hate and leave Apple"
    --you, as justification for your rant against Apple's use of DRM.

    Sounds to me like you hate Apple.
  • Reply 78 of 81
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post



    Obviously I'm not the only one - there's $1B worth of others. Blahblahblah

     

    So you concede, but move the goalposts.

     

    I'll give you this, you've gotten "bites" than usual in this thread.  I guess that makes for a good day for you.

  • Reply 79 of 81
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post





    I love Apple but loathe fanbots.

    Obviously you do not know what love is.

  • Reply 80 of 81
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    Given that the RIAA wanted to make ripping a CD illegal

    iTunes was the first such solution I saw that worked with the music industry to allow converting to AAC or MP3 form via iTunes. Outside of that the RIAA was saying it's illegal to convert to another form of media even if for your personal use.

    You could also concert your DRMed AAC content to a CD for playing in a care without violating any of the agreements the record companies had in place. This is all Apple doing what they could to make a better listening experience, not to mention Jobs expressing time and time again that DRM in music will fail.
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