A federal jury Tuesday decided that Apple didn’t compete unfairly when it sold music players and songs with copy-protection software that was incompatible with rival devices and music from competing online stores.
The eight-member jury in U.S. District Court handed Apple a victory by rejecting a claim from attorneys for consumers and iPod resellers, who were seeking as much as $1 billion in a class-action lawsuit. The plaintiffs argued that Apple was able to overcharge consumers for iPods by making it difficult to switch to a rival music player, as music bought from Apple’s iTunes store wouldn’t work on other players, nor would music from other stores work on iPods.
The jury deliberated about three hours before accepting Apple’s argument that the software provided necessary security protection and was part of a larger package of improvements that made iPods and iTunes popular. Apple no longer uses the copy-protection software in question.
