Apple sour over Norwegian DRM attack

It looks like Apple, fresh from victory in France where it has fended off attempts to break open its copy protection technology, is remaining brash over a similar situation in Scandinavia.

In a statement to the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman this week, the Californian company refused to remove its proprietary lock on iTunes purchases, which ensure they can only be played on iPod devices.

The Ombudsman has been critical of Apple’s strategy, claiming the terms of agreement between the end user and iTunes are in violation of the Norwegian Marketing Control Act. The Ombudsman said that Norwegian, not English, law must govern the agreement.

“Being an international company does not entitle iTunes to disregard the laws of the countries in which it operates. The company’s standard customer contract violates Norwegian law,” he said.

However, in its response, Apple said that its digital rights management (DRM) technology is governed by copyright legislation and not consumer protection legislation, and is outside the Ombudsman’s area of control.

The Ombudsman is now expected to make a response to Apple. Meanwhile, Denmark and Sweden are understood to be watching the situation closely in anticipation of bringing similar charges against Apple.