As it follows, Consumer Ombudsman Bjørn Erik Thon announced that Apple must provide an answer until November or face the legal sanctions.
The situation is very unpleasant for the Cupertino company, trapped between the Norwegian legal hammer and a hard place – the agreements it already signed with major music companies.
The Norwegian law enables the customer to copy digital content on a device of their choice. On the other hand, only EMI and a few independent labels agreed to sell DRM-free music on the iTunes. Needless to say, this was not enough for the Norwegian authorities.
At present time, Apple is facing severe fines and possibly, even the demise of its Norwegian iTunes Store. What’s even worse, Norway’s actions are supported by a significant number of EU countries such as Finland, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands and Norway might be the starting point for a movement that would affect Apple’s digital store all over the Old Continent.
Apple could try and ignore Norway’s request. But then again, Microsoft already proved that one big company can lose in a EU court and the fee is quite costly.