Apple deleted songs from users' iPods without their permission

Apple has confessed that it deleted songs that were downloaded on iPods from rival music services between 2007 and 2009 without informing users. The details came forth in the iTunes antitrust case taking place in Oakland, California.

Wall Street Journal reported that not only did Apple not inform users about this move, but they did not tell them about the problem either.

According to attorney Patrick Coughlin, a user who downloaded music from any competing music service to iTunes and then tried to sync the content to an iPod would receive an error message. The message would advice the user to restore the device’s factory settings which would in turn, delete the music that had been downloaded from any rival service.

In its defense, Apple said that the system was a safety measure installed to protect users. Apple security director Augustin Farrugia said additional detail about the error’s nature was not necessary because, “We don’t need to give users too much information,” and “We don’t want to confuse users.”

Earlier reports suggest that, the late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, led the company to violate antitrust laws by restricting music purchases for iPod users to Apple’s iTunes digital store, an attorney for consumers suing Apple said in court.

The plaintiffs, a group of individuals and businesses who purchased iPods from 2006 to 2009, are seeking about $350 million in damages from Apple for unfairly blocking competing device makers. That amount would be automatically tripled under antitrust laws.