Steve Jobs' deposition video in iPod antitrust lawsuit could be made public
The videotaped deposition of the late Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs in relation to an antitrust lawsuit concerning the iPod could be made public.
That’s if the motion filed by the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and CNN to have it released gets approved.
As reported by CNET:
“Given the substantial public interest in the rare posthumous appearance of Steve Jobs in this trial, there simply is no interest that justifies restricting the public’s access to his video deposition,” attorney Thomas Burke, who is representing all three media organizations, wrote in the filing Monday.
Burke first reached out to Apple regarding the request, but the company’s lead attorney replied with a denial of consent.
At the moment, in accordance with an order by U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers based on Apple’s request, Jobs’ deposition video is being treated as “regular testimony.” This means that it’s restricted to the courtroom and may be seen and reported on only by people in attendance at the trial. However, the footage hasn’t been “sealed” from being publicly accessible in the future.
The evidence has actually been entered into the public record via a publicly available transcript of the videotaped deposition (embedded below). But Burke argues that the video itself is “far more compelling and accurate than any transcript could ever be.”
If you can’t see the document embedded above, please click here.
The video, recorded six months before Jobs’ death in 2011, was played in court last week. In it, Jobs said that the digital rights management protocols that Apple allegedly used to lock in users to its iTunes ecosystem and cripple competition were implemented as part of the company’s copyright contracts with music labels.
The $350 million class action lawsuit, which was filed in 2012 but only went to trial last week, involves a class of customers who purchased a range of Apple’s iPods between September 2006 and March 2009.
But in an unexpected turn of events, one of the plaintiffs was withdrawn from the case last week after Apple found out that her iPod touch was purchased in July 2009, months after the period in question. The company then filed a request to have the case dismissed altogether, a move which was challenged by the proposed addition of a new plaintiff, who bought an iPod touch around May 2008.
As reported yesterday, Apple’s motion for the dismissal of the lawsuit has been denied.
See also: Former Apple supply manager sentenced with prison time and fine over kickback scheme, Apple denied appeal to dismiss class action lawsuit over California labor code violations, and Apple’s ‘App Store’ trademark appeal goes down in Australia.
