iTunes in Norway
It might not sound like much from the title, but it could have ramifications. And, I believe, it’s a first step towards sensible rules governing downloaded music. The Register is reporting that the Norwegian consumer protection Ombudsman has found that iTunes is guilty of breaking Norwegian law. One part is that it’s unreasonable to make Norwegians sign an agreement that they’ll be governed by English law. Fair enough. But the other parts are, I think, worthy of wider note:
[The Ombudsman said that] iTunes must accept responsibility for damage its software may do, and said it is unreasonable to alter terms and conditions after a song has been sold.
Both of those are very common in the world of software, and both are utterly unreasonable. We wouldn’t accept it if car makers disclaimed all responsibility for damage that their cars might do, so why do we let software manufacturers get away with it? And as for altering terms and conditions after sale? That’s just plain silly. And yet most of the legal download services enforce such terms as this – they claim that, after you’ve paid for the music and at any time of their choosing, they can change how often, where or on what devices you can play it. It’s a strange world in which we let companies get away with such blatant abuse.
pax et bonum
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