Corporate & Securities Law

This Is Not Legal Advice

By David Fischer

We never have, and never will, give legal advice on this blog. It is not legal advice, however, to suggest that companies do not take legal advice from journalists. In particular, Apple should heed the legal advice of its antitrust lawyers and not Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. In an article titled “Does Apple Have A Monopoly?” he writes:

I think that if Apple is to avoid trouble, the company first needs to acknowledge that it commands a huge market share, and that with that kind of market share comes responsibility.

Before Apple acts on this advice (or not), it would be wise to consult with its own antitrust lawyers. In fact, I will go so far as to suggest that before any company “acknowledge[s] that it commands a huge market share” it consult with its antitrust lawyers.

On a more serious note, this is my favorite part of the article:

While those users with an understanding of iTunes and audio formats know that iTunes doesn?t totally lock you into using iPods forever more, for the average user, getting the tracks out of iTunes and into a form that another player can play is near to impossible.

I think it would be fair to replace “those users with an understanding of iTunes and audio formats ” with “those users who have read the instructions.” When I bought my first iPod several years ago, I knew nothing about iTunes and and virtually nothing about audio formats. After less than 10 minutes with the instruction book and the iTunes help file, I was up to speed.

Full post as published by Antitrust Review on January 27, 2008 (boomark / email).