Tech
Apple taken to court for deleting competitor's songs from iPods
by Mark Teo
December 5, 2014
If you’ve ever had songs mysteriously vanish from your iPod, we may have an explanation: According to a class-action lawsuit filed against Apple, the tech giant removed songs downloaded from their competition. And it’s big business: The plaintiffs in the case are seeking $350 million in damages for the period between 2007 and 2009.
So, how did Apple delete the songs? It all began when users attempted to transfer songs. If your iPod detected tracks downloaded from their competition, Apple would display an error message, suggesting that users restore their factory settings. When the iPod was restored, the music from rival services would be gone. For their part, Apple maintains this was a security measure, though it doesn’t explain why they didn’t alert users when songs were removed.
The lawsuit is 10 years old, under antitrust laws, the damages sought could triple.
Attorney Patrick Coughlin, in court, told Apple that “You guys decided to give them the worst possible experience and blow up” a user’s music collection. It’s a little severe, but he makes a fair point: Before streaming music was popularized, plenty of people maintained giant MP3 folders, many of them downloaded from non-Apple sources.
Apple has made no comment from outside of court.
[H/T Tiny Mix Tapes]
