Lawsuit Against iPod DRM Set to Collapse

The highly publicised trial against Apple this week, that accuses them of unfairly restricting competition by limiting iPods to use music only downloaded from the iTunes Store, is set to collapse according to the BBC.

Apparently, the plaintiffs in the case both purchased iPods after 2009, outside the 2006 – 2009 window that the case concerns. Apple’s lawyers made the discovery after checking the device’s serial numbers.

“I am concerned that I don’t have a plaintiff. That’s a problem,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said at the end of the trial’s third day of testimony in Oakland, California.”

The trial has been heavily covered in the news this week, most notably due to the allegation that Apple “removed music from people’s iPods” that was downloaded from rival services. Apple says that this was misconstrued, as the songs were only removed during software updates for security purposes. The company has also argued that the use of Digital Rights Management was a necessary evil, because it was the only way the music companies would give Apple their trust and was also seen as a way to hamper piracy.

If the trial is successful, Apple could have to pay up to $1 Billion in damages.

SourceL BBC News