iTunes lawsuit

Apple is , alleging that the company broke antitrust laws by only allowing iTunes to work with its own iPod music player. Court filing showed that that the customer says the system freezes out competitors, according to Reuters: "The suit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court in San Jose. One antitrust expert called it a long shot, but Californian Thomas Slattery is hoping for unspecified damages for being 'forced' to buy an iPod, one of the most successful electronics products in years. The key to such a lawsuit would be convincing a court that a single product brand like iTunes is a market in itself separate from the rest of the online music market, according to Ernest Gellhorn, an antitrust law professor at George Mason University. There is legal precedent for such claims, but courts usually conclude competing products as viable alternatives, Gellhorn said."

by MacNN Staff