iTunes Norway complaint

The Consumer Council of Norway has filed a complaint against Apple for its iTunes' terms of service, which it says violates basic contract law. The Consumer Council maintains that iTunes' terms of use allow it to change the consumer's rights to their music after it has been purchased, undermining the basic principles of consumer contract law. iTunes Europe operates from Luxemborg and its terms of service stipulate that it is governed by English law, but iTunes' Norwegian site is a Norwegian domain, is displayed in Norwegian, and uses Norwegian currency. For these reasons, the Consumer Council of Norway argues that iTunes' Norwegian site is subject to Norwegian law.

Consumers who wish to play their purchased music on a non-iPod player must first remove the copy protection; however, iTunes DRM technology prevents this "legitimate private use," which is also, incidently, against iTunes' terms of use. Consumer Council Senior Advisor Torgeir Waterhouse says that the inability of the consumer to do what they wish with purchased materials is in violation of the Copyright Act, weakens consumer rights, and afforts Apple's iTunes with several unfair rights.

The Consumer Council of Norway has also requested that similar download services, such as CDON.com, prefueled.com, and MSN.com be reviewed for similar conduct and breaches of law.

Also contended by the Norwegian Consumer Council is the fact that iTunes claims freedom from responsibility if downloaded media should prove to be corrupted or provide for loss, attack, viruses, interference, hacking, or other security intrusions to the consumer. The Council deems this "unreasonable" and a violation of basic consumer contract laws.

by MacNN Staff