OAKLAND, Calif. — After just a few hours of deliberation, a jury in California has found in favor of Apple in a billion-dollar class-action lawsuit over the price of its iPod music players.
The eight-member jury in U.S. District Court rejected a claim by attorneys for consumers and iPod resellers, who argued that Apple’s use of restrictive software froze out competing makers of portable music players. Apple had argued that the software provided necessary security protection.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say they plan to appeal Tuesday’s verdict.
The case was filed nearly ten years ago and dates to a time when Apple used anti-piracy software that prevented its iPods from playing songs that were downloaded from online outlets that competed with Apple’s iTunes stores.
