Welcome back to another edition of “Under the Gavel.” I’m your host, with totally no legal expertise whatsoever (except for what I picked up by osmosis while working at the Harvard Law School Library’s IT department). Norway, Sweden and Denmark band together against Apple, leaving everybody wondering: can Finland be far behind? Meanwhile, are Creative’s claims gaining some traction?
Last time, we reported on Norway’s Consumer Ombudsman, Bjørn “The Norwegian Hammer” Erik Thon, who speculated that the iTunes Music Store’s terms of service were in contradiction with the country’s laws. Since then, Norway has been joined by neighbors Sweden and Denmark. These three Scandinavian musketeers have now thrown down the Viking gauntlet, giving Apple until August 1st to respond to their allegations with something better than “Are not!” If Apple is determined by a Norwegian court to be violating the consumer protection laws, the company may be required to shutter their music operations in that country. According to a Danish consumer official, a decision like that may presage a similar ruling in Denmark, as their consumer laws are very similar to Norway’s.
Meanwhile, Creative is swaggering around, bolstered by news that the International Trade Commission has taken steps to begin an investigation of Apple. The two companies had been locked in John Woo-style face off: a couple of weeks ago, Creative claimed that Apple’s iPod user interface violated a patent held by the Singapore-based company (now catchily dubbed the “Zen patent”); in retaliation, Apple quickly launched a pair of countersuits against Creative. No news yet on how those suits are progressing.
That’s it for this time. Stay tuned for another exciting installment, or else risk being held in contempt (not legal contempt, you understand, just the garden variety scorn).
