“A Norwegian complaint accusing Apple’s iTunes Music Store of breaching that country’s law may turn out to be a twist on the old debate between government and business – not one government, however, but many,” Natali T. Del Conte and Mark Hachman report for PC Magazine.
“Following a similar complaint by France, Norway seems ready to be joined by both Denmark and Sweden in making the case that iTunes needs to be modified in order to do business in those countries. In Norway, the government has demanded that Apple revise its iTunes Terms of Service by August 1 — an extension from June 21 — or else face fines and possible prosecution,” Del Conte and Hachman report. “‘There is definitely a feeling so far that markets work themselves out, but that is not the attitude that European legislators are starting to take,’ said Paul Resnikoff, founder and editor of Digital Music News. ‘We’re talking about different economic systems, which is why most of the action is happening overseas.'”
“The complaint, filed by the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman, demands that Apple make iTunes content usable by other manufacturers’ MP3 players. Apple has yet to officially say what it will do, but experts have warned that this could force the company to pull iTunes from Norway altogether. Representatives for Norway’s Consumer Council told PC Magazine that Apple’s Norwegian representatives have said that they hope Apple wouldn’t have to pull out of the country,” Del Conte and Hachman report.
“According to analysts, Apple is not at liberty to simply lift its Digital Rights Management (DRM) policies and open its content, because the company’s licensing agreements with the music industry are binding,” Del Conte and Hachman report. “‘It’s a question of whether Apple created this DRM solution to lock you into using a device, or did they do it because they had to, because otherwise the record labels wouldn’t license them the content,’ said Michael McGuire, a lead analyst with Gartner. ‘The legitimate online music market is still very, very young, and this isn’t just going to be Apple’s issue if legislation goes through. It will be anyone who provides DRM content.'”
Much more in the full article here.
This is not limited to Apple. Apple’s is just the biggest, so they get tested first. It is an interesting case that we hope will ultimately successfully establish precedent for consumers to be able to legally strip or circumvent DRM on legally-purchased material (perhaps with something like JHymn, for one example). You should be able to do what you want with stuff you own, within reason, right? Of course, with iTunes, you can just burn an audio CD which removes the DRM, so we’re a big foggy on what really is the problem; iTunes Music Store customers simply are not “locked in.” If anyone’s “locked in,” it’s the three customers of the WMA-based music outfits that only work with Windows and “lock out” Mac users completely.
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Related articles:
Scandinavian triumvirate extends deadline to August 1 for Apple to reply to iTunes concerns – June 14, 2006
Norway gives Apple until June 21 to change iTunes Music Store terms – June 12, 2006
Apple’s iTunes Music Store faces fresh legal attacks from Norway and Sweden – June 09, 2006
Norway complains about Apple iTunes Music Store – June 07, 2006
Consumer Council of Norway files a complaint regarding Apple iTunes Music Store’s terms of service – January 27, 2006
Apple’s vs. Microsoft’s music DRM: whose solution supports more users? – August 17, 2005
“but if Apple want to keep selling music in Scandinavia…”
Why not just take the loss and get out? Scandinavia’s worth, what, 15 bucks a month in ITMS money?
Yank the store, leave a sign in its place that says, “Sorry – your government has decided that you aren’t intelligent enough to make decisions with your own money”, and use it as a shot over the bow of other over-reaching, purposeless government committees.
frump, I realllly love your way of reasoning. If a vendor claims to have the right to change the terms of use for something I’ve already bought, and it’s against the law, that makes me unintelligent? It’s a very simple notion of the consumer laws in Scandinavia that no vendor has that right. Terms of use applicable for a product must be stated in full before the purchase and can not be changed single handedly by one party after the purchase. Why is this so hard to accept for you? And why should software producers, and their resellers, be exempt from these laws?
helmer,
Everyone who downloaded their free copy of iTunes and everyone who signed up to purchase and download music from iTMS electronically signed an agreements that state that Apple reserves the right to change the conditions of use of iTMS sales.
A contract is a contract. No law has been broken. The only thing broken is the record you’re playing.
Big Al,
You’re missing the point. Just because someone signs a contract, that does not necessarily mean the contract was lawful to begin with. The question here is whether Apple can reserve that right. Norway says they can’t reserve the right to do something that is illegal.
Although, all Apple needs to do is sell to Norway through one of the other European stores. I’m surprised no one’s really talking about that simple solution.
“Just because someone signs a contract, that does not necessarily mean the contract was lawful to begin with…”
If Norwegians signed contracts with Apple unlawfully, they should be sued individually by Apple to get the music back. That oughta shut them up.
Honestly and seriously, do you think Apple just tossed ITMS at Norway and Sweden without taking a look at local law? Do you remember how long it took for ITMS to get there? All the whining and bitching about how slow ITMS was to get to Europe came about because they had to make sure it was okay with the town bürgermeister or the jefe or whoever’s in charge there.
A company that sells access to intellectual property like music can’t reasonably be expected to do business in a place that doesn’t allow some protections for the owners of that property. What they are asking for is a license to steal music. If someone will really settle for a knock-off iPod, then they’ll settle for and ITMS knock-off…which, by the way, WON’T PLAY AT ALL ON MY MAC.
frump,
Out of curiousity, is English your primary language, because it certainly doesn’t seem like you understand it that well.
No one said that customers unlawfully signed contracts with Apple. The customers legally signed contracts that are allegedly unlawful. If you cannot discern the distinction between those two sentences, well, good luck in life…
“A company that sells access to intellectual property like music can’t reasonably be expected to do business in a place that doesn’t allow some protections for the owners of that property.”
– Is that a constitutional right? Either way, that’s not the main issue here.
“What they are asking for is a license to steal music.”
– Nope. Wrong again. Read Helmer’s post. Then read it again. If you need a translator, then I suggest you get one.
OK, Realist. Let’s apply the UCC to this situation. We’ll stipulate that the contract is illegal. That makes it null and void on its face. The standard remedy is to put all the parties to such an agreement back in the postion they were before any transaction took place.
So…Apple should refund everyone’s money in Norway, Sweden, etc. (all $37) and all those Scandinavians who get refunds need to delete all their purchased iTunes files and then erase iTunes from their computers.
Apple can then get on with doing business in the rest of the world, where it doesn’t incur $200 worth of legal headaches for every music track sold. As for the Norwegians, there’s an old Scandinavian saying that applies here…”Go pi$$ up a rope.”
aw, realist – don’t get snippy! having Apple sue norwegians was a joke! like scandinavian law…
But maybe you’re right! Maybe (just maybe) Apple surreptitiously snuck an unlawful and immoral “Terms Of Use” clause past the stalwart defenders of norwegian consumer virtue over at the Hall Of Justice! Maybe, as you say, this has nothing to do with intellectual property rights, but is only another instance of the vile Apple cartel setting up unwitting Swedes with vague lawyer-ese, just waiting for the day when, according to their master plan, they can CHANGE THE TERMS OF USE TO ALLOW ONLY FOUR CONSECUTIVE BURNS OF THE SAME PLAYLIST, bringing the world to its knees.
mmuuuaaaahahahahahahahah!!!!
Or maybe the norwegian ombudsman’s a tool with no official duties outside of ski season…
I agree with the idea of iTunesMS just pulling out of Norway and the rest of Scandinavia if they get snippy. Let them stick with their cultural norms of eating whales, dolphins and horses, and buying cds in stores.
“Honestly and seriously, do you think Apple just tossed ITMS at Norway and Sweden without taking a look at local law?…”
Actually, I dont think they studied it much at all. The iTMS agreement even says that iTMS follows British law, which might be true for the UK Store. However, since the Norwegian iTMS is selling exclusively to Norwegians and in Norwegian currency Apple is wrong when they claim that they don’t have to follow Norwegian law.
Also, working at an Apple authorized reseller in Norway we have to deal with Apple’s ignorance every day. By law, things sold in Norway are protected by law for at least two years (products that are supposed to last longer than two years are protected for five years, including computers and mobile phones). That means that if an iPod stops working after 20 months, it should be repaired or replaced free of charge for the customer. Apple used to follow this law, extending the warranty automatically during the first two years of a products lifetime. However, now they have changed their policy, making it very difficult to get anything covered by Apple.
I know that Apple previously has claimed that since they are an international company they don’t have to follow Norwegian laws.
By dealing with people at the Apple help-desk/AppleCare almost every day, I also know that these people are as fed up with the situation, encouraging their customers to contact the consumer council.
“Actually, the complaints raised by the ombudsmen in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark aren’t so much about the lock in that Apple’s DRM, Fairplay, causes. Apple will most likely be able to keep on doing their business in Scandinavia, DRM still intact, as long as they comply with local consumer laws: Terms of sale must not be changed after purchase. Why is it that practically no one notices that this is where the problem lies?…”
I agree. The media seems to focus a lot on DRM, but I agree that the biggest problem is the Terms of Sale. The fact that they can be changed after purchase means that if Apple or the music industry want to forbid its customers to for instance burning a CD they might, at any time. Although iTMS’ DRM is okay like it is now, it might not be in the future. That affects all the music I’ve purchased.
“…Apple is wrong when they claim that they don’t have to follow Norwegian law…”
It’s not that I don’t believe you here, but I’d really like to see a link to the news story where Apple announces that it doesn’t have to follow Norwegian law.
“… the biggest problem is the Terms of Sale…”
I hate to have to repeat this over and over, but if you don’t like the terms of sale, why buy the product? Isn’t Apple up front with these terms in Scandinavia? The rest of the world seems to be able to buy music from ITMS without feeling the oppressive weight that that you guys seem to feel – in fact, people clamor for ITMS anywhere it does not exist. If Scandinavians hate and fear ITMS so much, then Apple has no chance of doing business there anyway and should pull out.
If a Norwegian law says computers have to last 5 years or they must be replaced with a new one then how the hell does any PC maker make any money.
PC’s must cost a minimum of the equivalent of $1500 USD because most of them would have to be replaced 2 to 3 times over a 5 year period. Either that or only top end gear is sold there. No wonder PC’s are so expensive in Europe.
How can Norway’s businesses be competitive in Europe with restrictions like these?
A contract can be legally binding even if it breaks existing laws.
Have you ever heard of a prenuptial agreement to get around a divorce 50/50 split law?
Thought you did.
The Consumer ombudsman in Sweden also accuses Apple of not accepting responsibility for the eventual effects of a possible virus in their license agreement! I have never heard them say a word of that about Microsofts license agreements, which limit liability for whatever reason to the cost of the software or five dollars. Since viruses are free I suppose the limit it is five dollars.
Jimbo von… is right this constant whining about music is getting old. If you don’t like it, the do something else. Dan Brown has made over 3/4 of billion dollars off of one book, because nobody is allowed to print it and give it away. but for some reason music is suppose to be “above” shall we say all those petty people that demand to make money on their product, how nasty of them.
And another thought, until Napster stealing music, oops I should have said “sharing” was never and issue. Oh sure some peope made a copy or two, that’s wrong but not nearly on the scale of of the millions of songs that Napster and others did and still do.
Question, why is music a category that just makes some people go balistic if they can’t “do whatever I like with my music”?