US DOJ sides with Apple in brewing fight with Europe
DRM lovers and haters alike, gather round, because the good ol' US Cavalry (played in this film by the US Department of Justice), has just saddled up and taken sides in what is prepared to be an epic showdown between some wild west cowboys (Apple) and strangers from the east (Europe). As IDG News Service reported yesterday, the first shot has been fired by Thomas Barnett, an assistant attorney general at the DOJ's antitrust division. Barnett and his DOJ posse are siding with Apple and warning European countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France to back off, arguing that forcing companies to reveal their intellectual property slows innovation -- and they haven't discussed the anti-consumer angle, or the increasing feeling abroad that Apple is acting anti-competitively. Meanwhile, the Norwegian Consumers Council is going to meet with Apple later this month to try to solve this issue more diplomatically before things gets out of control and Apple and Europe have to duke it out in the OK Corral court.
[Via Boing Boing]
