Apple Just Won That $1 Billion iPod Lawsuit

Apple doesn’t have to pay up to $1 billion to iPod owners for the way it limited access to competing music services’ songs on the devices, a jury ruled Tuesday.

The eight-person jury in Oakland, Calif., determined that software updates to a version of iTunes released in 2006 were legitimate product improvements rather than a ploy to limit competition in the digital music market, Bloomberg reports.

Plaintiffs had argued that Apple purposefully prevented songs downloaded from other music stores from working on the iPod to boost the sale of its own products. Apple said the changes were made to boost security on the iPod and iTunes, and to meet the demands of record labels at the time.

The plaintiffs sought $350 million in damages from Apple, an amount that could have tripled to exceed $1 billion under antitrust law.

[Bloomberg]