actually, it looks like they are following up to an article that they posted in January of '05. That beats your friends new source by nine months.

only in California™

I'm a mac user and none of the WMA based stores support macs. Given this, how am I supposed to use the other players to their full capacity on my mac? Wouldn't I have to be locked into the windows platform and have to buy a PC in order to use the WMA stores? It is not Apple that "forced" me to get an iPod but rather the competing vendors which do not have a cross-platform solution.

come down as hard on Apple as they did on Microsoft.

LOL.

The current batch of baby-boomers in government is defective.

Who is more monopolistic? Apple with >4% of the computer market, who happened to make a player that competes with a real monopoly: the Music Industry.

The vampires in the music industry have monopolized entertainment for decades. Napster and the "free" trade of .mp3's drove a stake through the hearts of the Music Industry vampires.

Who says anything about those monopolists? And yea, what about Microshaft? Most companies use MS Windoze because there really is no alternative when most business software only runs on Windoze.

Until, at least, WINE runs on the Intel Macs. We can only hope.

MP3s work fine with iPods and with iTunes.

Nobody needs to use the iTunes Music Store.

Someone remove these people from the gene pool please.

Apple pretty much tells you how to use your non-Apple MP3 player with iTMS.

Move one word: RIP MIX BURN to MIX BURN RIP... and there you have it, an MP3 that will play on any MP3 player.

Judge Ware is neither honorable, nor trustworthy. He appropriated the death of one Virgil Ware and used the story for his own gain (a nomination for an appellate court seat under clinton). He later admitted the lie, withdrew his nomination and was reprimanded his peers.

http://latc.com/1997/11/10/news/news3.html http://www.fa-ir.org/ai/judgeware.htm http://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2002/2002_05_31.judges.html

This is a fundamental character issue, and Judge Ware is lacking.

If this is true then all players that support Windows media are the same because they make you buy a Windows box and do not work on a Mac. So Microsoft and all those music stores are open for antitrust lawsuits.

Contact the judge at and tell him if this suit goes forward you wish to bring another antitrust lawsuit against Windows media players, music sites and Microsoft:

HONORABLE JAMES WARE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 280 South First Street San Francisco, CA 95113 (408) 535-5454

"This is a fundamental character issue, and Judge Ware is lacking."

I wouldn't be surprised if he was discovered to be on the take.

I think I'll just stick to the motto: "If you don't like it, don't buy it". Buy a damn SanDisk player if you r-e-a-l-l-y feel the Apple is forcing you to purchase an iPod.

G-E-T R-E-A-L!!

be able to burn several audio CD's of a particular playlist of M4Ps! Forced to be able to play them on a handful of computers! Forced to buy an iPod! Stop the insanity!

No, really. Stop it, pal.

This if for whoever whoever would dare accuse this judge of corruption....

I TOTALLY AGREE.

You all are a bunch of Apple apologists who have no idea what's going on. Its just "Someone's suing apple? Then everyone's on the take!"

First, its not about iTunes as its about the iTMS, which post-dated the iPod, not pre-dated it. Second, the iTMS forces you to get an iPod, or go through hoops to use another player, if that's what you want. Third, having an iPod foirces you to buy from iTMS if you want to buy online, or go through hoops to get other music on the iPod (the iPod doesn't work with other music software). Fourth, MS is a monopoly, and the courts ruled as such (don't know why people seem to think otherwise). Just because they didn't get their asses handed to them doesn't mean they weren't ruled as one.

But, most of all, this is a ruling to let a case continue. That's all. Nothing more than "Hey, your lawyers can now waste more time and money". This isn't a judgement. This isn't 'loss' to apple (except in legal fees, but they've got to have a firm on retainer, with all the times they get sued). Its a freakin' civil case.

Also, you all are claiming idiocy of the plaintiff. But, hey, he's not an idiot. He's a greedy SOB hooked up with greedy lawyer looking for a quick hit of cash (note that only two people make any money on these types of suits, lawyers and the original plaintiff, the rest will get coupons to buy stuff at the ITMS or Apple store or something).

So, truthfully, why does anyone care? What's the worst thing that happens? Apple's forced to license fairplay so people can play iTMS music on different players. Oh, the inhumanity! Or, worse! Apple's forced to support WMA files so the iPod can play stuff bought at napster. That's it. Geesh, you make it sound like Apple will have to fold their music division, stop selling iPods, force you to start using windows, and no longer allow you to find escorts for the evening using safari.

Very sad that a Judge would approve such non-sense and waste the courts time and tax payers money. I don't see anyone holding a gun to anyones head to buy an iPod or to use iTunes. You can go out and get any other player and use any other service. I think Mac users should sue Rhapsody,Napster,and Microsoft for anticompetive monopolistic behavior as they don't even have Mac compatible services. IE6 only.

Louzer is so right. Everyone is just an apple apologist on here. Apple tries to get people that use itunes to buy ipods the same way that Microsoft got people to use IE who bought windows. There is an ad for the ipod when you install itunes. Remember when itunes worked with 3rd party players: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93548 Why add support to 3rd party players when you have a monopoly? If you want to use the itunes music store you can use... the ipod and ... well just the ipod. That's cause apple refuses to license out its DRM technology so other hardware manufacturers can become compatible. These are evil corporate practices to force competitors out of the market.

I know it's hard for people here to believe that apple could actually do something bad. Apple has the exact same goal as Microsoft, to make as much money as possible, so it's no surprise that they would adopt similar techniques. And yes I did just make a comparison of your beloved apple with your despised Microsoft.

and Apple in no way should "feel sorry" about what it has created with the iPod, iTunes, iTMS trio. As a shareholder, if Apple voluntarily made it easier for competitors, I would be the one suing for stupidity on the part of Apple. Apple is not a non-profit charity organization.

Here are the possible grounds for a lawsuit. If the plaintiff (as in this case) acquired songs on iTMS, well... so what. As louzer points out, iTMS came last (iPod and iTunes first). He knew he was making purchases on iTMS that worked on iPods and not other digital music players (without some additional steps). He bought the songs anyways, apparently happy to play them on his computer or to burn CDs. I did the same thing; I bought dozens of songs on iTMS before I bought my iPod shuffle years later. So where's the case...

The other possibility (not described in this case) is that the customer bought an iPod first (with iTunes included in the deal) before iTMS was opened. At the time of purchase, the iPod and iTunes worked together. The purchase decision was based on that deal. But that's still true today. Apple still supports even the very first iPods with the current iTunes and the "deal" is still in place.

Now, if Apple had actually "engaged in anticompetitive behavior," that's another story. But Apple has not "engaged" anything. Choosing NOT to license it's DRM technology to competitors or choosing NOT to license Microsoft technology for use on iPods, is NOT taking action. Apple is simply building on the same business model that makes the iPod/iTunes/iTMS trio so successful. Tight integration between the hardware, interface software, and online service resulted in excellent user experience which resulted in dominance. Well, I suppose Apple is guilty of having a monopoly on that...

How do I use Napster on my mac? Are you expecting Apple to support WMA DRM only for the benefit of windows users?

What about mac users. I sold my windows box willingly a couple years after buying a mac. Get it through your skull! Not everyone wants a windows machine at home!