Re: Apple's anti competitive online music monopoly may crumble

In article <0hdpu19i0qoue35pm0u35k2o0g1g1b9vt3@xxxxxxx>,
Stew <antwun@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

A new ruling has paved the way for an antitrust lawsuit against Apple.
The lawsuit, filed against Apple by an unhappy iTunes customer, claims
that Apple engaged in anticompetitive behavior by forcing him to buy
an iPod. Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court of Northern
California has found the plaintiff, Thomas Slattery, as having "met
all requirements for asserting [Apple's iTunes and iPod] tying claim,
noting that the complaint alleges Apple has an 80 percent share of the
market for legal digital music files and more than 90 percent of the
market for portable hard-drive digital music players." Judge Ware has
given Slattery the go-ahead to proceed with his monopolization claim
under the federal Sherman Antitrust Act.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/02/09/antitrust.case.vs.aapl/

***

Hopefully this will open the market up so manufacturers can bring
superior products to consumers without having to face Apple's iron
fisted oppression of the online music market.

To make this case, it must be shown that one product has significantly
benefited from being tied to another. That's problematic here. The
average iPod owner has only purchased a relatively small number of songs
from the iTMS. Most of the music on people's iPods comes from other
sources. This suggests that:

1) The iTMS is not a major reason that people buy iPods, and
2) Apple's control over iPod-compatible DRM-protected digital downloads
has not prevented other companies from selling music to iPod users.

In order to find against Apple, a judge would effectively have to
declare that the market for DRM-protected digital downloads is a
separate market from the wider market for music. Doesn't seem too likely.

--
"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."
-- George W. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005
.

Relevant Pages

  • RE: Audio iPod and MCE
    ... iPod support sites clearly illustrate ... typically post in a support forum because they *are* having a problem. ... 90% of computer users use a Windows OS, shouldn't Apple should be running a ... 80%+ of the digital music market is Apple. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: (NBC) ipod or mp3 player?
    ... formation and a market for liquidity for those seeking to buy or sell ... It ain't like buying into a cereal or shampoo stock. ... Microsoft, or Apple, there are 10 Brocades. ... computer sales, not their iPod sales. ...
    (rec.music.artists.springsteen)
  • Re: Apples anti competitive online music monopoly may crumble
    ... The lawsuit, filed against Apple by an unhappy iTunes customer, claims ... all requirements for asserting [Apple's iTunes and iPod] tying claim, ... market for legal digital music files and more than 90 percent of the ... The average iPod owner has only purchased a relatively small number of songs from the iTMS. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Is courting the mass market good...
    ... If one product can support another, fine, but I really don't see Apple tightly integrating their various product lines in a way that makes any one product line heavily dependent on another's success. ... I see why you need a Mac - mathematical computation is not one of your strong points eithers... ... different devices which share some common functions, but an iPod hardly qualifies as a full blown computer capable of what even a computer older than iPod can do. ... 10 years will fly by, apple will still have much of the music distribution market, there really isn't a mechanism that can displace so many ipods at this point in the game. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Apples anti competitive online music monopoly may crumble
    ... The lawsuit, filed against Apple by an unhappy iTunes customer, claims ... all requirements for asserting [Apple's iTunes and iPod] tying claim, ... market for legal digital music files and more than 90 percent of the ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
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