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The Last 5 Years (2002 Off-Broadway Cast)
- Jason Robert Brown
- The soundtrack to this moving off-broadway musical is heart moving. The lyrics follow a couple in a relationship for five years, one point of view going forward in time, and the other tracing time fr
- Wolfmother
Black Sabbath, The White Stripes, The Stooges. There aren't many bands worth their salt that want to be compared to other bands, but when I listen to Wolfmother's self-titled American debut, I can
- Spoon
Gimme Fiction by Spoon is a terrific album by an Austin band that I was lucky enough to catch on an Austin radio station during a Christmas visit.
Bowie at Beeb: Best of BBC Radio 68-72
- David Bowie
The companion CD to a BBC television concert, BBC Radio Theatre has some of the best renditions of many of Bowie's best songs throughout his career. "I'm Afraid of Americans" is substantial
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News
Apple Hit with Music Monopoly Lawsuit
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 at 3:00 PM - by Jeff Gamet
Apple is facing a lawsuit that claims the company is violating the Sherman Antitrust Act for failing to support Microsofts DRM-protected WMA music files on the iPod. The case was filed on December 31, 2007, and the plaintiffs are hoping to get their suit certified as a class action, according to InformationWeek.
The case alleged that Apple placed "unneeded and unjustifiable technological restrictions on its most popular products in an effort to restrict consumer choice, and to restrain what little remains of its competition in the digital music markets."
The complaint went on to say that the iPod shuffles SigmaTel STMP3550 chip supports the WMA format, but "Apples crippleware operating system software prevents the iPod Shuffle from playing WMA files."
While the suit claims that Apple is intentionally crippling its products to force consumers into purchasing music only from the iTunes Store, that charge may be difficult to prove in court. Apple CEO has openly stated that his company includes copy protection in songs only because the record labels require it.
Apple also offers EMIs music library without copy protection at the same price as copy protected songs -- all playable on AAC-compatible music devices. Amazon MP3, potentially the biggest competitor to the iTunes Store, offers 2.9 million DRM-free songs in the MP3 format, all of which are playable on the iPod.
The plaintiffs also alleged that Apple is abusing its market dominating position to price its iPod media players in a "monopolistic, excessive, and arbitrary" way. The suit pointed to the US$100 price difference between the 1GB and 4GB iPod nano and noted that there is only a $5.52 price difference in a $4.15 1GB and $9.97 4GB Flash memory chip.
Apple has not commented on the pending litigation.
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