Apple sued for stifling iPod tricks

SAN FRANCISCO - Internet rights champions on Monday accused Apple of stifling free speech by bullying OdioWorks into ending online sharing of ways to get iPods to work with music websites other than iTunes.

By (AFP)

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Published: Tue 28 Apr 2009, 12:04 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 8:52 AM

Attorneys from nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) teamed with OdioWorks lawyers to file a lawsuit against California-based Apple in a US federal court.

At the heart of the issue is the BluWiki website that details ways to get Apple’s popular iPhones and iPod MP3 players to synchronize music and video files with media at services such as Songbird, Banshee, Rockbox, and Winamp.

BluWiki operates as a “public service” with visitors able to freely edit or modify content on web pages in wiki-style collaborative efforts, according to OdioWorks, which owns the website.

“Hobbyists” at BluWiki shared insights about reverse-engineering Apple software and making it possible for iPod and iPhone owners to “manage their media with whatever program they chose,” the lawsuit states.

BluWiki terminated the forum late last year after Apple attorneys threatened to sue OdioWorks for spreading word of how to circumvent its digital rights management technology.

Apple zealously guards iTunes’ status as an exclusive content delivery and management tool for iPod and iPhone hardware.


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