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Posted

Good intentions, questionable execution. European legislators have been giving DRM considerable attention for a while, but Norway has actually gone so far as to declare that Apple's iTunes store is illegal under Norwegian law.

 

The crux of the issue is that the Fairplay DRM that is at the heart of the iTunes/iPod universe doesn't work with anything else, meaning that if you want access to the cast iTunes library, you have to buy an iPod. That didn't sit well with the Norwegian Consumer Council, the body that kicked the whole thing off by filing a complaint with Norway's consumer ombudsman. France and Germany have also joined in on the action....

 

More at PC World...

Posted

This piece of news is misleading. Norway has not outlawed iTunes, but our Consumer Rights agency has decided that Apple needs to remove it's DRM rules before October 1. The ball is now in Apple's court and their response has not yet been received.

 

The same rules will apply to Microsoft's Zune when it is launched so this is not a vendetta against Apple.

 

More interestingly, Apple has been hit hard in Norwegian media lately for extraordinarily bad customer service, and violations of Norwegian customer care laws which require 2 years warranty on all goods, including MP3 players (while Apple only offers 1 year and refuses to accept 2).

Posted
Well, that's one way to make the rest of the world laugh at you. How is something like this enforced?

 

I think maybe you took the intent of this law the wrong way. This law effectively denies Apple the Norwegian Market because of their monopolistic, proprietary DRM practice. It will be easy to prevent Apple from selling iPods in Norway and it will cost them a sizeable market.

Posted
Them Norwegians are rich folk compartive to the rest of the world. So that's not a pretty loss.

 

And we don't like having Apples and Microsofts pick our noses. :naughty: :naughty:

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