Apple wins decade-old iTunes antitrust lawsuit

Oakland, California

A JURY took about three hours to reject an antitrust lawsuit - 10 years in the making - that accused Apple of using a software update to secure a monopoly over the digital music market.

The eight-member jury in federal court here unanimously determined that Apple had, in fact, used an update of the iTunes software that it issued eight years ago to deliver genuine improvements for older iPods.

The verdict rendered on Tuesday wrapped up a class-action suit that had been in various courts and in various forms - and even contained various accusations - before it finally went to trial in early December.

The lawsuit involved iPods sold from September 2006 to March 2009 that were able to play only songs sold in the iTunes Store or those downloaded from CDs - not music from some competing stores. Apple was accused of violating antitrust law by using a copyright manage…