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Apple Accused of Deleting Songs From iPods Without Users' Knowledge
SternisheFan writes with this excerpt from a story at AppleInsider that says "During in-court proceedings of Apple's iPod/iTunes antitrust lawsuit on Wednesday, plaintiffs' lawyers claimed Apple surreptitiously deleted songs not purchased through the iTunes Music Store from users' iPods. Attorney Patrick Coughlin, representing a class of individuals and businesses, said Apple intentionally wiped songs downloaded from competing services when users performed a sync with their iTunes library, reports The Wall Street Journal. As explained by the publication, users attempting to sync an iPod with an iTunes library containing music from a rival service, such as RealNetworks, would see an ambiguous error message without prompting them to perform a factory reset. After restoring the device, users would find all non-iTunes music had disappeared. ... It is unclear if iTunes or iPod encountered a legitimate problem, though Coughlin seems to be intimating Apple manufactured the error message as part of a supposed gambit to stop customers from using their iPod to play back music from stores other than iTunes. For its part, Apple said the system was a safety measure installed to protect users."
THAT is why many people avoid Apple like the plague. They've lost their lead, had their fun and are now fighting fowl.
"You didn't buy it from us, you must have stolen it."
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
"We have to protect our users from not giving their money to us!"
That's what happens when you reliquish control of your digital life for the sake of the superficial convenience of not having to maintain your own hardware and perform your own backups: when the third party you entrust your data to decides you can't have it anymore, all you can do is bitch and moan and ask politely to get back what's rightfully yours. But *you* don't decide: your comfortable and convenient digital jailer does.
At the end of the day, Apple customers only have themselves to blame for what Apple does to them. And the same goes for Google, Microsoft and all the others, when they decide to shaft their own userbase without warning.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Only 3 of my albums were bought on iTune, yet i've *never* had anything deleted in the 10 or so years I've used ipods and iphones.
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
Considering both Apple and Amazon sell unprotected music and have for almost a decade now, and they have record sales every year, I'd say the fear is overblown. Buying a song for .99 is convenient compared to piracy.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Just saying.
Not to mention that iTunes itself provides this feature. "Rip. Mix. Burn," anyone? This whole story sounds like ambulance-chaser bullshit.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.