San Jose, Calif. – Apple (NASD: AAPL) has asked a federal judge to
dismiss an antitrust lawsuit against the company over its tying of iPod devices
to its iTunes Store, Bloomberg reports. The facts of the case date back to
2004, when Apple’s FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) system prevented
songs purchased from rival stores like RealNetworks from playing on its iPods.
The company eventually abandoned the practice in 2009, when it began selling
DRM-free music downloads.
However, in its motion Apple argues that its motive
at the time in excluding competitors was that, "iPods work better when
consumers use the iTunes jukebox rather than third party software that can
cause corruption or other problems."
The company also cited 58 consumer
complaints of problems with third-party downloads for its decision to exclude
them.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs was deposed by plaintiffs’ attorneys for the case on
April 12.
U.S. District Judge James Ware is expected to rule on Apple’s motion
to dismiss by May, Bloomberg reported.
Related Links:
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(Bloomberg)
http://tinyurl.com/4ohfgsk
(DMW previous coverage)
