The years long battle of plaintiffs against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has finally come to an end with the iPod maker winning the verdict. The plaintiffs accused the tech giant of blocking its competitors’ music from playing on its devices and creating monopoly in the digital music industry.
In the case against Apple, plaintiffs asked for damages exceeding $350 million and the accusing party primarily included individuals, businesses, and retailers. The U.S. law holds any upgrades justified if it improves customer experience and that is precisely what the court agreed to in this case. The jury unanimously agreed that the software update in 2006 was a “genuine” improvement in iPod; however, the plaintiffs argued that the update made it difficult for customers to play music downloaded from other sources.
The lawyers of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) claimed that all the services of the company are integrated together including its iPod, iTunes store, and music software. Further, the company added that its update blocked competitors out of the system because of the deals that Apple had agreed to with the record label companies.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released an official statement after the verdict saying,
“Every time we’ve updated those products — and every Apple product over the years — we’ve done it to make the user experience even better.”
The plaintiffs didn’t take it in the best way and attorney Patrick Coughlin was disappointed with the decision stating that two primary features forming the base of the case were lumped in with other features in the update. The plaintiffs are already planning to appeal in a higher court against the current verdict.
Apart from the legal news, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is struggling to meet the demand of its latest flagship device, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. As of now, the availability of iPhone devices has reached 56% and it is likely to touch 80% by the end of the week against the prior estimates of 100%.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
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