Jury Finds Apple Not Guilty Of Antitrust

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
It looks as though Apple has walked away with a unanimous "not guilty" verdict from the jury yesterday. The plaintiff has promised to appeal but, at least for now, this case is finally over.

The plaintiffs represented a group of digital music consumers who purchased iPods from 2006 to 2009 and alleged that Apple unfairly locked users into iTunes software on iPods, and in turn, locked out competitors. They sought damages of close to $350 million, which could have gone to $1 billion had Apple been found in violation of antitrust laws.
Click to expand...
 
I wanna know what percentage of that jury was sitting there with iPhones. :rolleyes:

That said, I know nothing about the case nor do i honestly care. I do know that at that time yes owning an ipod Forced itunes and itunes was incompatible with Everything else. But I had a Zen so I didn't really care tbh. I don't think I've ever installed itunes on my personal machine come to think about it. though my wife has an ipod and loves it.
 
I could see if Apple made life saving medical equipment and conspired to lock customers to only their stuff and it caused some deaths but people upset about ipods and demanding 350 million is ridiculous.
 
fdiaz78 said:
I could see if Apple made life saving medical equipment and conspired to lock customers to only their stuff and it caused some deaths but people upset about ipods and demanding 350 million is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I agree it's pretty high, but you also have to think about it in the right perspective. A lot of people who buy Apple products have more education, higher wages, and greater personal wealth so money in general is viewed differently because when you have more of it, you start to get this different perspective about what you think "lots of money" looks like in terms of numbers. Marrry someone rich and you'll see what I mean if you're a working class person before marriage. It will really alter how you view wealth.
 
Lawyers walking away from a potential $1 Billion?? This will be appealed and appealed until it gets before the US Supreme Court!!
 
I see no problem with this. People were not locked into shit. There are third party softwares available that will work with the iPod just fine.

And installing iTunes to update an iPod Firmware is no different in action than downloading a Firmware updater program for any other device. Nothing says you have to use the other features of iTunes.

Update and then uninstall the fucker. Done.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I wanna know what percentage of that jury was sitting there with iPhones. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Based on the verdict I'd have to say it was unanimous. :)

Any other company would have been heavily penalized for actions like this.

However, if you buy Apple products you get what you deserve, I have no sympathy for their customers.
 
Bundle a web browser with the OS, actually doing nothing to prevent other browsers from being installed > Monopoly conviction and threat of breakup.

Actively make attempts to block competitors from allowing customers to use their legally purchased tracks on your device > Jury finds you not guilty.

Apple is the new Microsoft. What remains to be seen is how much more they'll get away with.
 
techrat said:
Bundle a web browser with the OS, actually doing nothing to prevent other browsers from being installed > Monopoly conviction and threat of breakup.

Actively make attempts to block competitors from allowing customers to use their legally purchased tracks on your device > Jury finds you not guilty.

Apple is the new Microsoft. What remains to be seen is how much more they'll get away with.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the evil little bitches.... :)
 
techrat said:
Bundle a web browser with the OS, actually doing nothing to prevent other browsers from being installed > Monopoly conviction and threat of breakup.

Actively make attempts to block competitors from allowing customers to use their legally purchased tracks on your device > Jury finds you not guilty.

Apple is the new Microsoft. What remains to be seen is how much more they'll get away with.
Click to expand...

People found a way around the DRM in the original iPod, and started to put music on it that didn't go through Apple. Apple updates their system software and closes the bug in the DRM. That's what this lawsuit is.

Now, if that were to win a guilty verdict, get out of the way, I wouldn't turn down a billion from Microsoft and Sony because they just did the exact same thing only even more recently. Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 had bugs and loopholes that allowed people to run unapproved software. Both closed those loopholes with software updates.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I wanna know what percentage of that jury was sitting there with iPhones. :rolleyes:

That said, I know nothing about the case nor do i honestly care. I do know that at that time yes owning an ipod Forced itunes and itunes was incompatible with Everything else. But I had a Zen so I didn't really care tbh. I don't think I've ever installed itunes on my personal machine come to think about it. though my wife has an ipod and loves it.
Click to expand...

I want to know how many of the jury had new iPhones, iPads and "courtesy cellular contracts" AFTER the trial with a couple thousand dollars free in iTunes.
 
techrat said:
Bundle a web browser with the OS, actually doing nothing to prevent other browsers from being installed > Monopoly conviction and threat of breakup.

Actively make attempts to block competitors from allowing customers to use their legally purchased tracks on your device > Jury finds you not guilty.

Apple is the new Microsoft. What remains to be seen is how much more they'll get away with.
Click to expand...

Some people are of the opinion that Microsoft and Intel should not have been punished as monopolies (I am one of them) ... Microsoft was certainly punished unnecessarily by the EU (who dinged them for the browser thing) but that was more about protectionism against a strong American company than it was about Anti-trust ;)

I don't believe Apple was a monopoly on music either ... there were other sources of music (hence the lock out) but nothing forced users to buy iPods or use iTunes software ... if iPods were the only music players and iTunes were the only source of songs then I would agree they were a monopoly ... but neither is true, then or now :cool:
 
I generally dislike Apple for a number of what I think are legitimate reasons, however, this is not one of them. I don't really see a problem with them selling a specific music player that runs only iTunes. There have been other options on the market for quite some time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top