Apple Wins $1 Billion Antitrust Lawsuit Over iTunes and iPods
After just a week at trial, the 10-year-old antitrust lawsuit claiming Apple intentionally bricked iPods that did not exclusively use iTunes went to deliberation, and the technology company won.
On December 16th, the California jury found that Apple did not violate antitrust laws by restricting music files on iPods to specific file types that could only work with iTunes.
The antitrust lawsuit, filed in 2005 and since modified, centers around iTunes software updates that plaintiffs claim limited their iPods’ ability to play music and sometimes deleted non-iTunes songs. The Apple antitrust lawsuit focuses on two updates to iTunes in 2006 and 2007 – versions 7.0 and 7.4, respectively. One of the updates reportedly “bricked” the user’s iPod if they tried to upload music from a store other than iTunes, forcing the devices had to be reformatted. Some claims specifically involve software company RealNetworks, who intentionally launched a music service in competition with iTunes, and contends that at least one of the updates was intended to prevent their specific software from functioning on an iPod.
The plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit sought at least $350 million in damages, which would have tripled if Apple had been found guilty of violating antitrust laws.
Apple applauded the decision in a statement: “We created iPod and iTunes to give our customers the world’s best way to listen to music,” a spokeswoman said. “Every time we’ve updated those products — and every Apple product over the years — we’ve done it to make the user experience even better.”
“There’s not one piece of evidence of a single individual who lost a single song, not even a complaint about it,” said William Isaacson, Apple’s lead lawyer in the case. “This is all made up at this point.” This statement came after the lead plaintiffs in the original case were all dismissed due to not fitting the antitrust lawsuit’s claim premises. New plaintiffs were found for the trial.
The Strom Law Firm Can Help with Antitrust Lawsuits
The Strom Law Firm LLC’s business litigation practice is focused on representing individuals, officers, directors, public companies, and private corporations involved in complex civil disputes.
We concentrate our resources and efforts on business and commercial litigation involving:
- Breach of contract claims
- Business fraud
- Interference with business activities or unfair competition
- Antitrust lawsuits/ price fixing allegations
- Bank and lender liability
- Insurance fraud and Securities Fraud
- False Claims Act / “qui tam” whistleblower cases
- Breach of warranty claims
When criminal charges arise, a South Carolina federal defense attorney at the Strom Law Firm, LLC will fight tirelessly to defend you against South Carolina antitrust violations. Founded in 1996 by a former US Attorney, we know what it takes to defend crimes not only on a state level, but also on a federal level as well. We are here to help you. Contact an experienced South Carolina federal antitrust defense attorney at the Strom Law Firm today for a free consultation. 803.252.4800
