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  Does Apple have a music monopoly issue?
Time: 00:00 EST/05:00 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Robert Stein

While Macworld is running strong January 9 to January 12, lawyers will be filing documents for an antitrust complaint in the U.S. Northern California's District Court that could wind up being a lot more important than any product launch. In Apple's annual report filed last week, the company noted a few lawsuits–including one over an alleged Nike-iPod patent infringement and another about G4 malfunctions–but the most interesting one is an antitrust complaint challenging Apple's tactics in the online music market.

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#1 By 7711 (209.204.74.18) at 1/3/2007 5:51:37 AM
First, Apple can't be wrong...they do no evil. ;/

Second, what's good for the goose is good for the gander...."Apple's CEO Steve Jobs has himself compared Apple's digital music dominance to Microsoft's personal computer operating system dominance." If there was enough for an anti-trust action against MS, these is enough for one against Apple.

#2 By 37047 (216.191.227.68) at 1/3/2007 7:14:35 AM
#1: I agree. I think Microsoft's tactics in the desktop market are wrong, and I also think that Apple's tactics in the digital music market are equally wrong. It is all about locking in iPod and Mac sales.

#3 By 61 (72.64.142.151) at 1/3/2007 8:56:54 AM
It is not illegal to have a monopoly (which Apple really doesn't), and even if they did, I see nothing that Apple has done that would constitute being anti-competitive.

Microsoft used it's position in the OS market to force OEMs into to contracts that doesn't allow them to sell anything else. This is extremely anti-comptetive.

Please, tell me what Apple has done.

#4 By 8556 (12.207.97.148) at 1/3/2007 9:19:33 AM
CPUguy has a point. Most iPod users run Windows, not OS X. This is hardly anti-competitive.

#5 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 1/3/2007 10:24:10 AM
Apple is leveraging its iTunes monopoly to sell iPods. As soon as they allow other music players to buy music from iTunes, all will be well.

Its all a moot point anyway. Steve Jobs is going to jail.

#6 By 37047 (216.191.227.68) at 1/3/2007 11:22:52 AM
#5: Exactly. Want to listen to music purchased on iTunes? Better own an iPod. Otherwise, you'll have to pay more at another online music store, who likely has a smaller catalog.

However, Steve Jobs will not be going to jail. You don't get jailed for anti-competitive behaviours and anti-trust actions. You just get heavily fined, and regulated to death, if you are very unlucky. After all, Microsoft was found guilty of anti-trust violations, but did Bill Gates see any jail time? No, he didn't. But MS got fined (mainly by the EU). This is the difference between corporate / civil law, and criminal law. Neither BillG or SteveJ have done anything or a criminal nature.

By the gods, I just partially agreed with something Parkkker said. This must be one of the signs of the impending apocalypse. :-)

#3: No, Apple does not have a monopoly with iTunes, but that doesn't prevent them from being anti-competitive in its use. Try to play an AAC file downloaded from iTunes with an MP3 player that is not made by Apple. And yes, I understand completely that being a monopoly is not illegal.

#7 By 2960 (24.254.95.224) at 1/3/2007 11:35:15 AM
The WRONG question is being asked here.

The correct question is, do ALL download providers have a monopoly issue.

The answer is a resounding YES.

Apple has FairPlay. Microsoft has Zune. Everyone else has Microsoft PlaysForSure.

There needs to be ONE consistent, universal DRM standard so consumers do not get screwed.

TL

#8 By 2960 (24.254.95.224) at 1/3/2007 11:37:13 AM
#6,

Um, no.

Don't have an iPod? No problem. Use one of the other dozens of music stores available to you that lock you into PlaysForSure or Zune.

You're locked in, no matter where you go.

#5,

All I can say is.... WAAAAH.

TL

#9 By 3 (62.253.128.14) at 1/3/2007 11:40:44 AM
#8 - exactly. Buy a Zune and get locked in to their marketplace....how is that different to what itunes does?

One standard makes sense, though it'll never happen.

#10 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 1/3/2007 12:19:57 PM
"However, Steve Jobs will not be going to jail. You don't get jailed for anti-competitive behaviours and anti-trust actions. "

Steve Jobs will be going to jail for backdating stock options.

http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/newsanalysis/techhardware/10302858.html

#11 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 1/3/2007 12:22:18 PM
#7 "The correct question is, do ALL download providers have a monopoly issue."

Only the providers who also make music players. And only one of those has such a large segment of the market.

#12 By 2960 (24.254.95.224) at 1/3/2007 2:13:43 PM
I will say this parker, you are a master at massaging sentences to fit your needs :)

TL

#13 By 3 (62.253.128.14) at 1/3/2007 3:17:12 PM
#11 - because it has been the better product...isn't that what you said about IE when it became integrated in the OS ;o)

#14 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 1/3/2007 3:26:37 PM
I notice that Zune had 2.8% of the MP3 market from Nov. 19 to Dec. 23. When it had 2.1% of the market, it had 9% of the hard drive market.

Extrapolating ... that means 12% of the hard drive MP3 player market.

#13 In 5 weeks Microsoft has changed perceptions ... 1 person in 8 now thinks Zunes are the better product. I wonder what the next few months will bring?

#15 By 61 (72.64.142.151) at 1/3/2007 4:13:30 PM
#5 are you freaking kidding me?

There are other stores out there other than iTunes (some with a wider selection of music even) for the SAME price, and there are others wich are DRM free.

Fact is, iTMS is Apple's store, no one is forcing you to use iTMS, and no one is forcing you to use iTunes, and no one is forcing you to use an iPod.

#16 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 1/3/2007 4:36:19 PM
"Fact is, iTMS is Apple's store, no one is forcing you to use iTMS, and no one is forcing you to use iTunes, and no one is forcing you to use an iPod. "

Microsoft tried that argument ... no one is forcing anyone to use Windows. It didn't work.

#17 By 7711 (71.168.203.4) at 1/3/2007 7:34:28 PM
#9...it is not a bit different, except that have 85% or so of the market. The monopoly gets defined with the % of the market and the degree to which others are locked out.

#18 By 61 (72.64.142.151) at 1/3/2007 8:26:19 PM
#16, fact is, people were being forced to buy Windows.

Microsoft was using it's OS dominance to force OEMs into exclusive contracts (either sign our contract and sell only Windows, or you can't have Windows).

The only way Apple could be successfully sued is if they got all the record labels to only license to them, thus creating an actual monopoly.

At this point you can VERY VERY easily go to any other of the hundreds of music stores in existance (and that's just online, not including actual retail stores).

#19 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 1/4/2007 12:08:32 AM
#18 "fact is, people were being forced to buy Windows."

Bullsh*t.

People could have bought an Apple, or PC's with OS/2 on them, or any number of white box computers with "DOS" on them.

"The only way Apple could be successfully sued is if they got all the record labels to only license to them, thus creating an actual monopoly. "

We don't know exactly what kind of deal Apple has made with record companies, but we can surmise that Apple has threatened to drop one or more of them from the iTMS if they try to get differential pricing on new / older records.

Go to any music store. Old CD's are cheap. New ones are expensive. Apple has a deal where all songs cost the same and that isn't the same deal record stores get.



#20 By 61 (72.64.142.151) at 1/4/2007 8:11:08 AM
How can you buy a computer with OS/2 on it if OS/2 is discontinued? Or any other OS for that matter. For a very long time it was IMPOSSIBLE to buy an OEM computer that didn't have Windows on it, and that is really still true today.

You can't just assume that Apple is making shady deals, heck, even a deal that you describe is not shady.

iTMS doesn't have the market saturation to even be considered a monopoly, flat out.

Wal-Mart gets all their products cheaper than any other company and sells it that way too, should they be taken to court for it? (Not to say that they shouldn't be taken to court for other reasons)

#21 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 1/4/2007 10:54:46 AM
"For a very long time it was IMPOSSIBLE to buy an OEM computer that didn't have Windows on it"

I've never had a problem buying a PC without an OS on it. And I've spec'd out and bought hundreds for companies I've worked for.

#22 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 1/4/2007 1:20:37 PM
#21, Yeah, ditto that. All of them feature a very clear, "No OS Option" on any number of PC's - 1 to however many one wishes to buy. They are PC OEM's not SW companies and certainly not OS licensing police.

Also, MS never "forced" anyone - did they have conditions set regarding branding? Yes. Use of their software tools to load systems? Yes. To manage the out of box experience for the user? Yes.

Any OEM could do as they wished up to and including the sale of individual components and bare bones systems and they do. Dell sells is XPS case as a systems builder option and HTPC lists dozens of bare bones configs and kits that include hardware and OS OEM SW.

This is a non-issue. Consumers prefer Windows because developers prefer it. OEM's prefer it because consumers and developers prefer it and hardware manufacturers prefer it for the same reasons. The entire ecosystem is built around that and we have businesses, jobs and something to scribble about because of it. Before the present ecosystem evolved as it has, it was a mess and too few people had access to what computers could do. Call it a monoculture if you will, but don't necessarily call it bad, or illegal. It evolved this way because it needed to and Microsoft was the one that read the need and created and sustained the potential. They earned their success and their position of leadership and every bit of available evidence suggests that they are doing what it takes to continue to earn it. If they don't the markets will reward someone else. There were always a bunch of options - Windows however was the platform that won.

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