While it's legal in the US to purchase a physical CD or DVD and then resell it to someone else, that's not the case with digital media. The unauthorized transfer of digital music is considered to be illegal under the Copyright Act of 1976.
And that sentiment was reaffirmed this weekend by US District Court Judge Richard Sullivan, as he ruled in favor of Universal Music Group’s Capitol Records in its lawsuit against digital music reseller ReDigi for copyright violation...
Apple's legal woes in the 1.33 billion people market of China have worsened as Shanghai Animation Film Studio filed a lawsuit over the allegedly improper iTunes downloads. The studio asserts that Apple's been illegally selling its content and is seeking north of half a million dollars in damages. Shanghai Animation is China's first and oldest animation studios and their complaint alleges in no ambiguous terms that Apple blatantly stole their content without paying any royalty at all.
Note that Apple doesn't offer movies on the Chinese iTunes Store so the issue is thought to involve App Store apps which bundle the studio's movies. Apparently, Apple made available as much as 110 unlicensed Shanghai Animation titles for download via the App Store back in July 2012. The suit was reportedly filed with the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, which has allegedly accepted the case.
So what's going on here? Did Apple intentionally steal and pirate someone else's content through its content store?
Earlier this month, Apple started rolling out a new 'Report a Problem' tool to a select group of customers. The feature, for those who haven't used it before, allows iTunes users to report a problem with a recent purchase of an app, song or other iTunes content.
And the tool's been redesigned this month to be easier to use, and more accessible to users. The previous version was only available in the actual Mac/Windows iTunes app, and the new edition will be available through any device with a web browser...
That was fast. Earlier today, Christian told you that a major security hole had been discovered involving Apple's iForgot page that allowed someone to reset your Apple ID password with just your birthdate and email address.
Unsurprisingly, Apple immediately took the password page down after getting word of the vulnerability. And after just a few hours of 'maintenance,' the page is back up and—we're happy to report—once again safe to use...
Apple today has added a new 'Offers In-App Purchases' warning in the description of App Store apps that utilize the feature. The new disclosure can be seen in the App Store, located just beneath the Buy/Free button of pertinent applications.
The move comes amidst multiple reports of children running up monster iTunes bills, unbeknownst to their parents, via in-app purchases. Earlier this month, a young boy from the UK racked up $1,300 in charges buying virtual donuts...
Why does digital content in Australia cost more than elsewhere? It's not our fault, one Apple executive told a government panel investigating the pricing disparity.
The company (rightfully) blamed "old-fashioned notions" held by content owners for markups as high as 61 percent on music and other digital media sold in the region.
Apple's Australian Vice President Tony King told the panel the company would prefer to offer music, movies, TV shows, along with hardware at lower prices, hinting that movie studios, record labels and other content owners are forcing the company's hand...
It feels like every day we hear a new story about a major internet company like Evernote, Twitter or Facebook getting hacked. And when it happens, user passwords, personal information and uploaded content are all compromised.
With this in mind, it's nice to hear that Apple has given its account security a boost today with a new two-step verification process. The safeguard requires users to verify their identity on a trusted device before making any changes.
Tutorial: How to enable Apple two-step verification
Retailer Best Buy is known for discounting iTunes Gift Cards from time to time, with their last offering dating back to December 2012. Today, it started selling the $100 iTunes gift card for $80, a cool twenty percent discount. Lower-denominated iTunes Cards still go for their usual prices so this promotion only applies if you're willing to add a hundred bucks worth of iTunes credits for $80 and save $20 doing so. You can order the card at one of Best Buy's outlets, place an order via Best Buy's web store or have it delivered directly to your home...
While she may not have time for bronchitis, it appears that Kimberly 'Sweet Brown' Wilkins has plenty of time for lawsuits. The viral video star has reportedly filed a copyright infringement suit against Apple for selling a track on iTunes that featured her voice.
The song was called "I got bronchitis," and it used several samples of Wilkins' catchphrases from an early 2012 interview that turned her into an internet sensation. She is suing Apple, along with the producers of the track, for some $15 million in damages...
In a world of digital media, ranging from e-books to movies and music, consumers have often questioned the difficulty of loaning or selling their originally purchased items. In an exciting development, Apple has now developed a way to transfer digital content while also protecting the rights of the publisher.
In three patent applications filed in 2011 and 2012, Apple outlines a method similar to selling a house by transferring ownership of the front door keys, only for iTunes purchases. Driven by digital rights management (DRM), the process gives owners of apps, e-books, music and other digital items rights to loan and resell "used" items to other people...
Rumor mills have been churning out stories calling for a Google-branded subscription music service for some time now and today an exclusive report by Fortune sheds more light on the matter as the Internet giant is allegedly looking to tap its popular YouTube video sharing service to take on the likes of Spotify, Rdio and Pandora.
In capitalizing on the power of YouTube, Google presumably is hoping to draw its younger audience that typically streams high-quality music videos from YouTube's VEVO channel for free. The YouTube-branded product is said to be ad-driven and therefore free. It is also separate of Google's another music subscription service rumored to be coming to Android devices via the Google Play content store...
It's been a decade since musician David Bowie's 2003 album, "Reality". To promote his upcoming album entitled "The Next Day", Bowie turned to Apple's iTunes, the leading music store in the world which previously cut exclusive free streaming deals to promote new albums from the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ke$ha, One Direction, Matchbox 20 and Jack White.
That's right, iTunes is going to stream the upcoming David Bowie album in its entirety, free of charge, until its March 12 release. "The Next Day" can be pre-ordered for via iTunes right now, as either the $11.99 'normal' release or the $13.99 Deluxe version which comes with three bonus tracks. By the way, the album is Mastered for iTunes...