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A Californian man has sued Apple for damages, claiming that he was forced to buy an iPod to play music he had bought online from the company.
Thomas Slattery filed his suit on Monday at the US District Court in San José and is seeking damages.
The crux of his case is based on the allegation that Apple's method of preventing iTunes music tracks being used on other players is anti-competitive and breaks antitrust laws.
The complaint further alleges that Apple is using its monopoly position to hamper competition in the digital music industry. It accuses Apple of turning an open standard into one that restricts choice.
The iPod and Apple's music download service dominate the digital music industry. Analyst group NPD reported in October that iTunes had a 70 per cent market share and that the iPod was the market leading music player.
At the end of last year Apple blocked a technology called Harmony that allowed music from RealNetworks' online store to be used on iPods. Apple described the company as having the "tactics and ethics of a hacker".
Apple declined to comment on the current lawsuit.
See also:
Disgruntled former employee takes firm to court 23 May 2005
Company shaken to the core as new DRM system is cracked in under 24 hours 23 Mar 2005
Apple 'stunned' at tool allowing tracks from Real's music store to play on iPods 29 Jul 2004The music industry has finally worked out how to make money out of internet music downloads. But will legal online music services be as popular as P2P sites? 18 Jun 2004All Portable
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