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.