The iPhone maker, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), is all set to defend itself in digital music monopoly allegations claimed by over 8 million users. The company brought forward technology engineer testifying in favor of the iPad maker claiming that the upgrades served as a mean to upgrade the security of iPod devices.
After a new lead client surfaced up in iPod case, the company called John Kelly, University of California, who testified that the upgrades were targeted to improve the security and limit piracy of digital music, a statement somewhat similar to that of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s executive. However, the plaintiffs are claiming that the tech giant changed the format to block other digital music rivals including RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK).
The main factor driving the whole case against the iPod maker is the fact that the company deployed technology to restrict its users from playing digital music downloaded from its competitors. RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK) released a software in 2004 that allowed iPod users to enjoy music from other resources; however, an update in 2006 from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stripped away RNWK’s software.
Kelly testified in favor of Apple stating, “All of the changes would have prevented Harmony from working because Harmony was based on an outdated version of iTunes.” The previous claims from plaintiffs said that Apple overcharged $350 million from its clients and if the company were to lose the case, it would have to pay up to $1 billion in fine settlements.
The shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are trading at $111.95 with current P/E ratio of 17.41 and the company has current market capitalization of $669.28 billion. The shares of Apple have grown 39.68% year-to-date. The company is projected to have one of its best year-end quarters because of the increasing iPhone 6 sales all over the world.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
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