Here's the link to the story: http://bgr.com/2014/12/04/apple-ipod-an ... antitrust/

Here's the story:

After 7 years, Apple admits to forcefully removing music from iPods without users’ knowledge
Legal
Apple iPod and iTunes AntitrustImage Source: Wikimedia Commons
By Chris Smith on Dec 4, 2014 at 8:30 AM
Email @chris_writes

Apple is on trial this month, having to defend against allegations that it broke antitrust laws and stifled competition in the music players and downloads businesses with its iPod and iTunes practices. The Wall Street Journal reports that attorneys for the plaintiffs on Wednesday told jurors that between 2007 and 2009 Apple regularly deleted music from iPods that stored downloads from other services, without telling users what was going on.

FROM EARLIER: Steve Jobs will be a crucial witness against Apple in an iPod antitrust suit

“You guys decided to give them the worst possible experience and blow up [a user’s music library],” attorney Patrick Coughlin said in court.

What used to happen is that iTunes would detect music downloaded on other services when a user tried to sync an iPod to his or her iTunes library, and would display an error message telling the user to restore the device to factory settings. Once the restore was complete, the music would disappear from that device.

According to Coughlin, Apple intentionally hid these details from users.

Apple security director Augustin Farrugia said that Apple didn’t want to explain things in more detail as the company doesn’t “need to give users too much information.” “We don’t want to confuse users,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that Apple was paranoid about security, which is why it defended its iPod and iTunes ecosystem in such a way. “Someone is breaking into our house,” Steve Jobs wrote about music pirates in an email to Apple’s Eddy Cue that’s listed as an exhibit in the trial.

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So basically they admitted that about 7 yrs ago, Apple decided they didn't like anyone's ipods containing certain music from other music services. So if you didn't purchase "certain" music from the Itune store and tried to sync your ipod with itunes, you got an error which required a factory reset (clean data wipe of all files) for your ipod to operate and sync.

I love how tech companies decide what they think is good for the consumer. They what the consumer to buy their tech and only use it as the corporation see's fit... like a rental agreement with the mob. Actually the whole iTunes ecosystem for ipods, ipads and iphones reminds me of RICO.

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