New Apple Lawsuit Discussion -iPod and iTunes Antitrust

I have a new Ipod video and you can play any Mp3 created by any means. I believe I have some Windows meadia files on there too. The only thing you can not get around is the videos, they have to be Mpeg4s. Itunes can convert or like me get a 3rd party which is faster.

I think they're complaining about AAC files, esp ones downloaded from iTMS. One good thing that may come from this is a blow against DRM. If Apple is "unfairly" preventing it's AAC music from being played on other music devices, then the DRM is the cause. Thus, to comply with an injunction against them, they gotta remove the DRM parts of the AAC. Apple doesn't support WMP files on the iPod, but there is no compelling reason to force them to. They support a very standard multi-platform format, MP3, and by forcing them to support a proprietary Microsoft format it would be tantamount to using legal force to make them pay royalties to MS to implement features they don't desire. The same precedent could be turned against MS or makers of software like WinAMP or MusicMatch to force them to support Apples AAC.

I think it's a lot of hot air, but there might be a few merits in there. If Apple is forced to open up to WMP, it could also be forced to add OGG and FLAC, or even ATRAC. Those would make a lot of people very happy with an iPod.

Take out everything except "ones downloaded from iTMS" and that's their argument. AAC files that you create from CDs or other audio files on your computer do not have DRM in them and conform to the AAC standard. The big huff is that iTMS files can only play in two places: iTunes and an iPod. AAC files that iTunes creates from CDs etc. (those without DRM) can play on anything that can support AAC -- for example, my fiancee's new Motorola V360 cell phone plays them fine, as will the Pioneer headunit I plan to buy when I get a new car this summer.

Ugh. This is bunk. First of all, downloading music is not the only way to get the music. I don't know what the exact numbers are, but just because Apple has 80% of the legal download market doesn't mean anything, because the download market is only a subset of overall music delivery; you can still go to a store or order a cd online, and rip it in whatever format to whichever player you want.

It's also a little like going to 1975 and suing MITS for having a monopoly on personal computers. That market segment isn't mature enough for it to really be considered a market of its own yet. Successful alternatives may yet emerge, but not if it's clear that success will be punished.

Even if you discount workarounds, there are so many alternatives out there for both legal downloads and mp3 players and combinations of both that it boggles the mind. Just because Apple happens to have the best one at the moment is no reason to get out the lawyers.