The Finnish and Norwegian Consumer Ombudsmen along with French and German consumer organizations have demanded that the iTunes music store contract terms be altered to become more "consumer friendly". A letter has been sent to Apple from each country containing several requests. Once again, the "iPod-iTunes" tie is criticized for not giving consumers the option to play iTunes downloads on more players.
The group pushing Apple to offer consumers a fair deal believes that any contract terms that prevent users from playing their legally purchased music on more than one type of player should be removed. For now, the organizations recommend that consumer be allowed to rip CDs burned from iTunes downloads to DRM-free audio files that can be played with a variety of consumer electronics devices.
The mentioned method is already used by many iTunes customers regardless of whether it might be legal or not in the users' territory. As an official change of policy from Apple however, this could only serve as a temporary solution and the organizations have suggested that the company devise another solution and that development takes place by September 2007.
iTunes must also change its contract terms, losing the right to modify rules for using the service unilaterally. The company cannot modify existing contracts whenever and however it wants. iTunes must also change its terms so that the risk of damage to music files or of damage caused by them is divided more fairly between the company and the customer.
The group also demands that customers have the right to be covered by the legislation of their own country, calling attention to iTunes' contention that British law applies to sales.
Source:
Press Release
The mentioned method is already used by many iTunes customers regardless of whether it might be legal or not in the users' territory. As an official change of policy from Apple however, this could only serve as a temporary solution and the organizations have suggested that the company devise another solution and that development takes place by September 2007.
iTunes must also change its contract terms, losing the right to modify rules for using the service unilaterally. The company cannot modify existing contracts whenever and however it wants. iTunes must also change its terms so that the risk of damage to music files or of damage caused by them is divided more fairly between the company and the customer.
The group also demands that customers have the right to be covered by the legislation of their own country, calling attention to iTunes' contention that British law applies to sales.
Source:
Press Release
