Posted on 09/14/2006 11:31:37 AM PDT by Panerai
A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official has joined the debate surrounding Apple’s proprietary digital music technology by criticizing European antitrust activities, but groups attacking Apple are defending their actions.
Speaking in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general at the DOJ’s antitrust division, warned that forcing companies to reveal their intellectual property stifles innovation. He used Apple as an example, in a nod to growing discontent in Europe regarding the way that music purchased from iTunes is tied to the iPod.
Architects of complaints against Apple in Europe say he’s got it wrong. “We’re not attacking intellectual property rights but saying they should be implemented in a way which doesn’t dictate which player you use,” said Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor with the Norwegian Consumer Council.
His organization filed a complaint to Norway’s consumer representative, or ombudsman, arguing that it’s illegal for Apple to limit iTunes customers to playing music from the store exclusively on iPods. Along with similar representatives in Denmark and Sweden, the Norwegian ombudsman asked Apple to defend its policy. In a written reply, Apple said it won’t budge on the issue but the company plans to meet representatives from the countries later this month to further discuss the issue. If Apple won’t open up, the ombudsman will take the company to court.
Waterhouse suggests that Apple could solve the problem by licensing its digital rights management technology to other device makers so that iTunes customers could choose among devices or opt for an open standard that would be compatible with more devices.
Barnett’s criticisms of European antitrust policy, including comments that the policy is aimed at helping competitors instead of consumers, are generally in line with comments from U.S. officials since the Bush administration came to power...
(Excerpt) Read more at playlistmag.com ...
Ditto Microsoft. I don't know why they waited to complain until they did it to Apple.
Far be it from me to defend Bill Gates, but the EU's behavior has been disgusting.
The EU in general cannot compete. Subsidy and/or unfair trade practices seem to be the norm from what I see.
Why don't these whiners just buy their music from allofmp3.com? Due to Russian copyright laws, the songs are a fraction of the price, and are delivered in standard MP3 format that plays on any MP3 player.
Because Allofmp3.com is technically illegal in Europe, the United States and other civilized countries where copyright laws have meaning.
Who'd have thought the ability to expropriate copyrights on digital music files was so important to the Russians?
“We’re not attacking intellectual property rights but saying they should be implemented in a way which doesn’t dictate which player you use,”
By this logic then, video games such as X-box, gameboys, and game cubes should all be inter-operable, right?
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