Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Apple
Apple's Norwegian troubles could increase
Norway's Ombudsman has never been a fan of Apple's DRM. We've covered this a few times here on TUAW, but it looks like things are coming to a head. It has been decided that the iTunes DRM is illegal according to Norwegian law, and now Apple has until March to change the terms until the first legal steps will be taken against Apple.Will this signal a massive change in Apple's DRM? Or will it mean Apple leaving Norway? Only time will tell, but I can't imagine Apple will just give up on the entire European market.
Update: Norway, as it has been pointed out, is not now, nor has it ever been, a part of the EU. Finland, however, is and they have the same issues with Apple's DRM. My apologies to our Norwegian readers.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andreas Johansen Skiftesvik said 7:41PM on 1-24-2007
Norway is NOT part of the EU....
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derek said 7:48PM on 1-24-2007
norway? eu? what?
anyway, they would leave. do they not understand the RIAA makes them use DRM?
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Ville Svuori said 8:07PM on 1-24-2007
The Finnish authorities have taken exactly the same stance against iTunes as.
Norway is not part of the EU, but Finland is. (And so are Germany and France, who have aligned against Apple and iTunes, too.)
I find it somewhat weird, though, that somehow it's not ok that iTunes sells music that doesn't play on other players than iPod, but other retailers may sell WMAs that doesn't play on iPod.
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EJP said 8:15PM on 1-24-2007
Norway has rejected EU in two separate popular votes. It is however, a member of EFTA, and thus follows many EU laws, but never sets them for the EU.
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michel said 2:36AM on 1-25-2007
the world is a complicate place isn't it ? :)
never will a company will quit a whole MARKET because of simply laws , there are always money to do.
they will adapt.
you know, if enterprise quitted countries because of restrictive laws.. well they would _all_ already quit the U.S.A, JApan, China (yes yes, the china government control all aspect they want about the economy even if they promote privates enterprises) and so on.
enterprises have to respect financial laws, taxes, ecological concerns, salaries obligations, and so on.. was it not bad to gain money and control the world ? but they adapt, they get used to change.
Apple will adapt. they always does, because it's their job to work with laws to gain mooooney.
>I find it somewhat weird, though, that somehow it's
>not ok that iTunes sells music that doesn't play on
>other players than iPod, but other retailers may sell
>WMAs that doesn't play on iPod.
it is weird, and there are here also a potential illegal stuff. all in good time, all in good time.
all is fine.
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Holy Molly said 5:56AM on 1-25-2007
A somehow equally interesting aspect of this case is that the Norwegian ombudsman has labeled iTunes as a monopoly - and thereby suggesting that none of the other Microsoft-based music-shops is selling any music. In other words, this means that Apple can be proclaimed as the winner of the MS vs. Apple Music Format Battle:)
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Shevek said 7:17AM on 1-25-2007
I only have a few iTunes songs, cos I don't like DRM fullstop, but for the few songs I do have at least, if Europe has its way, I'll be able to easily listen to them without being locked into Apple software or hardware. Thanks Europe.
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Goose said 8:57AM on 1-25-2007
What I don't really understand is that if Norway forces Apple to open their DRM, and Apple pulls out of the Norwegian market, the biggest (and, apparently, only) seller of legal music downloads is gone. Wouldn't that just cause more piracy? The RIAA needs to get its act together and force the US to create some sanctions against Norway. Heck, they did it here in Sweden, so why not Norway? I mean, their right next to each other... they're practically the same country!
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ChrisW said 2:30PM on 1-25-2007
Regarding WMA and iPod.
While DRM'ed WMA plays on all PlaysForSure devices, which come from several brands and several price classes, DRM'ed AAC only plays on an Apple iPod.
Difference beeing, Apple could license their iPod to play DRM'ed WMA, but other devices can't licence their players for FreePlay or whatever it's called. That makes Apple have a monopoly on playing AAC content bought from ITMS.
DRM isn't necicarily a bad thing, if used the right way.
-C-
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Reg Muffet said 8:49PM on 1-25-2007
Why is burning an iTunes Store track to a CD, ripping back to MP3, and copying that new file to a non-iPod MP3 player not regarded as interoperability?
Do they want it to be more automated or something?
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ChrisW said 6:11AM on 1-27-2007
Because that is, technically, a circumvention of the DRM. And that's illegal. Just as illegal as driving several times across the Norway-Sweden border just to import more than your allowed quota of 1 liter of Vodka :)
-C-
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