Apple's iTunes program, which was designed to make music available for its portable iPod music player (at a time when such things, as I recall, were considered pipe dreams), is coming under fire in Norway because Apple has been successful.

Here's the article link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081001/media_nm/us_apple_nor...

Frankly, I consider this behavior nothing short of ludicrous. Is Norwegian law really so freaking retarded? Seriously?

Consumers have other legitimate choices besides iTunes for their music downloads. The program has always existed for the sole purpose of making iPod a success and a worthwhile investment for consumers. To expect that Apple would willingly--or even that it should--allow other players to bear the fruits of its labor is absurd to an unprecedented extreme. It's like saying that Nintendo should be required to let its games play on all consoles.

Every now and again, I hear about perfectly common-sense laws here that I take for granted. They make such perfect sense that I assume they're in effect around the world. But companies that want a worldwide presence have to deal with a lot of crap from regional lawmakers. I just didn't realize that Norway was one such place.

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	Suskie - October 01, 2008 (12:43 PM) Wait, so "Ombudsman Bjoern Erik Thon" is actually someone's name?
	honestgamer - October 01, 2008 (01:17 PM) Ombudsman might be a Norwegian post in office or at a firm or something, I'm thinking. I don't think that's part of his name, just the rest of it. I could be wrong.
	Suskie - October 01, 2008 (01:19 PM) I hope you are wrong, because the name isn't nearly as cool without Ombudsman.
	JANUS2 - October 01, 2008 (02:07 PM) Ombudsmen are supposed to protect the consumer/public by dealing with complaints and other nefarious corporate activity. In the UK you can write to the financial ombudsman if you think you're getting screwed by your bank, for example. I guess it must be a European thing.
	honestgamer - October 01, 2008 (03:19 PM) It sounds like they're the equivalent of the Better Business Bureau in the US, then.