Apple Wins iPod Antitrust Lawsuit, Found Not Guilty in Harming Consumers

The 8-person jury has ruled in favour of Apple, clearing the company of any wrongdoing in the potential $1 billion antitrust lawsuit against the company, reports Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. prevailed in a potential $1 billion lawsuit by iPod customers who claimed restrictions in the iTunes library were designed to kill competition.

The jury started deliberating yesterday and just announced its decision today that Apple did not violate antitrust laws, avoiding the $350 million in damages the class-action lawsuit was seeking, for the 8 million people and 500 resellers involved that had purchased certain iPods from September 2006 to March 2009.

Apple’s argument in the case was that DRM on the iPod was necessary to ensure contracts with record labels were upheld, while it was also required to protect iTunes from hackers, as taped video testimony from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed.

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