[Upd-discuss] Norway Slams iTunes Music EULA

[Seth Johnson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Ecommerce] Unfair contract terms (choice of law) story
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 07:31:54 -0400
From: Manon Ress <manon.ress@cptech.org>
To: ecommerce@lists.essential.org


QUOTE from register

According to the ruling, iTunes breaks section 9a of the
Norwegian Marketing Control Act. The regulator said it was not
reasonable that the consumer must sign up to a contract regulated
by English law, rather than Norwegian law. It also said iTunes
must accept responsibility for damage its software may do, and
said it is unreasonable to alter terms and conditions after a
song has been sold.

END OF QUOTE

From: "Michelle Childs" <michelle.childs@cptech.org>
Date: June 8, 2006 5:59:51 AM EDT

The Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman has ruled that  certain
contractual terms   for the Apple iTunes service break  consumer
protection law, and has given the company two weeks to fix the
problem. Further information is needed from Apple before the
Ombudsman also rules on the whether the DRM system is
unreasonable.

Below is info from The Consumer Council of Norway who made the
complaint to the Ombudsman.

There is also a press coverage of the ruling in the Register.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/07/norway_rules_itunes_unfair/

Michelle

The Consumer Council of Norway is on track to win case against
iTunes The Consumer Council of Norway won support for almost all
its complaints regarding iTunes Music Store.

http://forbrukerportalen.no/Artikler/2006/1149587055.44

Jo Singstad

Informasjonsrådgiver / pressekontakt, 06.06.2006 20:55


» On 25th January, the Consumer Council lodged a complaint with
the Consumer Ombudsman against iTunes Music Store Norge for
breach of fundamental consumer rights.

Important victory

The decision is in accordance with what the Consumer Council
alleged in its complaint.

"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.

"A trade agreement with a consumer must be balanced, also in the
digital sphere. The Consumer Council has seen a trend where terms
of agreement, technical blocks and their legal protection have
led to a reduction in the rights of consumers and their
opportunities to use cultural material," Waterhouse says.

"The digital rights of consumers have been dictated by the
industry for a long time. This decision marks the start of a
struggle to recover them," Waterhouse continues.

Must be followed up

The Consumer Council now wants attention focused on other
downloading services operating in Norway.

"The terms, both technical and written ones, are not unique to
iTunes. Many other companies employ similar ones. We anticipate
that the Ombudsman will also pursue these, initially the music
shops mentioned in our complaint.

"Several Norwegian record shops have said they will start
downloading services this year. This case puts severe constraints
on the formulation of their terms and on their service to
customers," Torgeir Waterhouse says.

The Consumer Council will be watching the trend carefully in the
time ahead.

Awaiting a response

A reply from iTunes is being awaited before a final conclusion
can be reached on certain points, including:

The cooling-off period when purchasing from iTunes
Whether the technical blocks (DRM) are unreasonable
Whether the geographical limitations are unreasonable

"We want the Ombudsman to take an offensive and a
consumer-friendly attitude to the points on which a conclusion
has so far not been reached. This particularly concerns the
technical conditions (DRM) in the agreement. The widespread use
of DRM and its legal protection have upset the normal, balanced
regulation of copyright. It is important that such technical
blocks do not create unbalanced terms of agreement between the
consumer and the industry," Torgeir Waterhouse concludes.


--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA .Tel.:
+1.202.332.2670,Fax: +1.202.332.2673

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727

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