Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) did not intend to get more from iPod sales and downloads than it deserved. According to the company, what has been cited as antitrust practice involving iPod and music downloads to the device is out of context. The company’s attorney in the decade-old case said that security concern was at the center of their actions, which in some cases removed music from rival companies from iPod devices, The Wall Street Journal stated in an article.
Deleting rival music
Apple is being accused of fostering monopoly-like practice with regards to iPod, which in turn saw users of the devices paying more than they ought to have paid for music downloads. The attorneys representing consumers claimed that Apple deleted music downloaded from rival companies. The practice of deleting music downloads from rivals happened between 2007 and 2009.
It emerged that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) tweaked iPod system such that the device displayed an error when a user tried to sync music from a rival service. Following the error display, Apple instructed unsuspecting users to restore factory settings that eventually deleted the ‘unwanted’ music download.
$350 million damages
Plaintiffs in the class-action case are seeking $350 million in damages. Apple could end up paying triple the quoted damages under antitrust laws. The iPhone maker stands accused of stifling competition and causing iPod users to pay more than they deserved.
In its defense, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it was only taking security measures with iPod and it had no malicious motive behind the actions. Apple’s director of security, Augustin Farrugia, said that they didn’t intend to give too much information to users. He further stated that they didn’t want to confuse users with too much information.
Hacking threats
However, they were also concerned about the hacking of their music store and their actions that have been cited as stifling competition were aimed at protecting iTunes. Additionally, Apple claimed that the update that ended up deleting music downloaded from rival platforms were in the best interest of the users because it protected them from hacking of their devices.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will still give more testimonies and evidences to justify its actions regarding iPod.
