Apple downloads outsell high street

The Sony rootkit row came as Apple’s Itunes was reported for the first time to be outselling CD sales at chains such as Tower Records and Borders.

Apple claims to have sold 600 million songs to 10 million subscribers. However, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Amazon, FYE and Circuit City all scored higher than Itunes, said research firm NPD.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), just about the only group to back Sony over the rootkit, claimed digital sales accounted for just four per cent of the market during the first half of 2005, up from about 1.5 per cent the previous year.

A US Supreme Court recently ruled against P2P service Grokster, which had to pay the RIAA $50m after unsuccessfully arguing it was not responsible for illegal activity by its users.