The Norwegian ombudsman has come out in support of the Norwegian Consumer Council's complaints against iTunes and other DRM-based entertainment services. The Consumer Council complained that the iTunes pricing was discriminatory, its terms were unreasonable and its DRM was too restrictive. This is moving Norway closer to regulatory limits on the way that Apple and other DRM companies can do use the legal protections that DRM enjoys to lock users into unfair, one-sided transactions. Norway's Thomas Rieber-Mohn says that similar decisions are expected soon in Sweden and Denmark. With France and the UK coming to similar conclusions recently, Europe seems to be moving to rein in DRM companies.
"We are very satisfied with the decision. There is a general tendency for consumers to meet grossly unreasonable agreements when they download files with cultural content. It is therefore positive that the Ombudsman gets a grip on this so that consumer interests are also protected when such material is downloaded," senior advisor Torgeir Waterhouse says.
Among other things, the decision clearly states that the terms of agreement demanded by iTunes are unreasonable with respect to Section 9a of the Norwegian Marketing Control Act. Moreover, it is unreasonable that the agreement the consumer must give consent to is regulated by English law. That iTunes disclaims all liability for possible damage the software may cause and that it may alter the rights to the music, are also considered unreasonable. iTunes must now alter their terms and conditions to comply with Norwegian law by the 21.of June.
(Thanks, Thomas!)
