Apple did not use its software to unfairly prevent healthy competition in the distribution of digital music, a court in the Northern District of California ruled on December 17, 2014. The jury's decision exempts Apple from the plaintiffs' claim for $1 billion, arguing that Apple unfairly competed with 8 million iPod and music consumers by overcharging them .
The updates made to the software that checks the validity of song protection in iTunes were not made to unfairly block RealNetworks, which made music available in digital format through its Harmony service, but not by "locking" Apple. The purpose of the iTunes updates was to improve the product and strengthen the digital copyright management system in order to allay the fears of record companies about potential piracy.
"Attempts to 'break' iTunes are constantly being made," said Steven Jobs, whose videotaped testimony was made just six months before his death, in October 2011. The mass lawsuit was filed in 2005 on behalf of 8 million consumers and 500 resellers.
However, the plaintiffs' representatives failed to prove to the jury that Apple intended to harm RealNetworks or that it acted with the intention of driving it out of business. The company's lawyers argued that the security of the song copy protection system, the protection of the control system of the so-called DRM (Digital Rights Management) system, was of great importance, since the case refers to an era when piracy was common and record companies were reluctant to make their repertoire available. In 2005, the company had sold more than 22 million iPods.
The judge's decision was crucial, allowing the jury to examine the changes brought about by each update to the iTunes software, not just security. According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, this decision determined the course of the case. In Microsoft's case, one of the lawyers,
Patrick Coughlin, specifically tells Bloomberg, the case did not concern the improvements in the new version of Windows in general, but was limited to the integration of the Internet browser (IE) into the operating system.
Source: tech.in.gr
