This story has been updated. Original CopyCense coverage: June 8, 2006.

“FairPlay has been one of Apple’s best friends since the company came up with the DRM format prior to launching the iTunes Music Store. It ties songs purchased at the iTMS to Apple hardware and software, meaning that if a customer wants to listen to a purchased track, she’ll have to do it on an iPod.

“Lately, Apple’s dominance of the digital music download scene has come under the scrutiny of some European governments. Earlier this week, the Norwegian government ruled that the FairPlay DRM used in the iTMS was unreasonable. It also found that iTMS pricing was discriminatory and that Apple’s terms and conditions are too restrictive.

“As a result of the decision, Apple will have to alter its terms and conditions for its Norwegian iTMS storefront by June 21. This may prove to be the first domino to be toppled in what could become a long string, as the governments of Denmark and Sweden are also investigating similar complaints against the iPod maker.”

Ars Technica. Apple Could Find Trouble in Norway. June 7, 2006.

Updates:

• Stan Beer. Will Europe be Apple’s Waterloo? ITWire. June 19, 2006.
• Boston Globe Editorial Board. Let iTunes be iTunes. June 19, 2006.
• Natali T. Del Conte and Mark Hachman. Can Europe Force Apple To Rework iTunes? PCMag.com. June 16, 2006.
• Ars Technica. Europe Taking A Careful Approach to iTunes. June 16, 2006.
• Darcy Richardson. What’s Wrong with iTunes? Is It the iPod…Or What? Apple Matters. June 16, 2006.
• The Gripe Line Weblog. Culture Clash Over Sneakwrap and iTunes. June 15, 2006.
• Reuters. Scandinavian Agencies Extend Apple Reply Deadline. Yahoo! Finance. June 14, 2006.

CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“Responding to a lawsuit that Netflix leveled against it two months ago, Blockbuster said on Tuesday that it has filed an antitrust counterclaim alleging that its online rival is trying to use the courts to secure a monopoly for itself.

“Netflix, the first company to market a DVD-by-mail subscription service, sued Blockbuster in April claiming that its Blockbuster Online infringed on patents it held. Netflix maintained that when it launched in 1999, such a service was not obvious.”

Paul Bond. Blockbuster Counters Netflix Suit. WashingtonPost.com. June 14, 2006.

Related Stories & Documents:

• Ars Technica. Blockbuster Fires Back At Netflix With Suit of Its Own. June 14, 2006.
• U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Approach for Renting Items to Customers (Patent No. 7,024,381 assigned to Netflix Inc.). April 4, 2006.

CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“Taking cues from earlier proposals in the House of Representatives, key senators on Wednesday said they too are pondering legislation that would police violations of so-called Net neutrality under antitrust law.

“The idea that network operators must grant equal treatment to all Internet content and applications that use their pipes is ‘very, very high on the agenda,’ Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter said at a hearing here. Internet innovators are understandably ‘concerned their access could be cut off, degraded or become an expensive barrier to entry.’

“Specter said he was working with Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who leads the Senate Commerce Committee, on a ‘coordinated plan’ to address the issue.”

Anne Broache. Senate Ponders Policing of Net Neutrality Offenses. News.com. June 14, 2006.

“In 1846, as the new technology of the telegraph system was catching on, newspapers pooled their resources to create a more efficient news distribution system. Jim Kennedy, vice president of strategic planning at the Associated Press, which was born out of those efforts, says newspapers are facing a similar challenge today.

“Translation: It’s time for newspapermen to stop fighting among themselves and cooperate if they want to survive in the era of splintering audiences, and search-engine news gateways, such as the popular news services created by Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc.

“Yahoo News has held the No. 1 news property spot on the Web for the last eight months. Google News was the No. 11 news site last month, with 9.7 million unique visitors, up 19% from last year. Associated Press grew a paltry 1% to 6.1 million unique visitors.

Bambi Francisco. How Newspapers Can Face Online Rivals. MarketWatch. May 23, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“The more things stay the same, the more they change — as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. demonstrate in their brewing struggle for Internet dominance. For more than a decade, Microsoft has made fending off antitrust complaints seem as much a part of its big product rollouts as bug testing is for other software companies.

“AOL and RealNetworks Inc., for instance, squared off against the software giant over the way it bundled software and services into its dominant Windows operating system. Netscape’s complaints triggered an antitrust trial that ended with Microsoft operating under federal supervision.

“Now Google is taking its turn. The Internet search leader has warned U.S. and European antitrust officials that a feature of Microsoft’s new version of Internet Explorer could stifle competition in the multibillion-dollar search engine market. Given Microsoft’s history, the concerns draw attention.”

Jim Puzzanghera. Goliath vs. Goliath. LATimes.com. May 7, 2006.

See also:

Steve Lohr. Microsoft and Google Grapple for Supremacy as Stakes Escalate. The New York Times. May 10, 2005.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the online music industry, looking into ‘possible anti-competitive practices’ in the growing music download business.

“The Justice Department’s investigation could be a replay of an earlier government investigation. In 2000, many of the same companies settled an antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission, which found the five largest distributors of recorded music guilty of forging marketing agreements that set artificially high prices for compact discs. That price-fixing arrangement may have cost consumers nearly $500 million over three years, the FTC determined, but it did not levy fines against the companies. State attorneys general later sued and settled with the music companies.”

Yuki Noguchi. Justice Probes Music Firms’ Pricing of Downloads. WashingtonPost.com. March 4, 2006.

See also:

BBC News. U.S. Inquiry Into Music Downloading. March 3, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.