Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Apple Over Legacy iPods

U.S. buyers of a first- or second-generation iPod touch are being invited to join a class action lawsuit brought against Apple. The suit, which claims Apple broke federal and state laws, is also open to other iPod owners, according to Apple Insider. In the Apple iPod iTunes Antitrust Litigation lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the plaintiffs state they are “seeking money for themselves and other people who bought iPods.” Members of the class include customers who bought iPod classic, iPod shuffle, iPod touch and iPod nano models between Sept. 12, 2006 and March 31, 2009. The complaint, which dates back to July 2004, involves a product RealNetworks created called “Harmony,” which allowed early iPod adopters to put music purchased there on their music player. When Apple released an update later that year, the “Harmony” “work-around” was disabled. At the time, Apple accused RealNetworks of adopting “"the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break the iPod," and they warned customers it was "highly likely" that Real's Harmony technology would not work with future version of the iPod software.” The second part of the lawsuit has to do with Apple’s early requirement that iPod touch owners buy iOS updates. The lawsuit claims that the software updates caused iPod prices to be higher than they otherwise would have been. Both iOS 2.0 and iOS 3.0 had to be purchased by iPod touch customers. The same updates were available to iPhone customers free of charge. As a previous owner of an iPod Classic and first generation iPod touch, I could benefit by joining this lawsuit. However, I won't. Each device was enjoyed for years and when it was time to upgrade, I donated them to the local senior center. There is no reason to punish Apple on either point, in my opinion. If you’re interested in joining or learning more about the class action suit, visit https://ipodlawsuit.com/. Are you planning on joining the class action suit?