An angry iTunes customer is suing Apple, claiming that the only way to use the service is by buying an iPod. Thomas Slattery, from California, is filing the lawsuit for damages, centering on the claim that Apple's "Fairplay" Digital Rights Management system means songs from iTunes cannot be transferred to MP3 players other than Apple's own iPod. This, it is claimed, is a violation of anti-trust laws.

[The lawsuit] alleges that "Apple has turned an open and interactive standard into an artifice that prevents consumers from using the portable hard drive digital music player of their choice, even where players exist that would otherwise be able to play these music files absent Apple's actions". Mr Slattery described himself as an iTunes customer who "was also forced to purchase an Apple iPod" if he wanted to take the music he had bought with him.