Apple iTunes might face fines in Norway

After France, Apple might face problems with their digital music store in the Norwegian market. Norway’s Consumer Ombudsman and Market Council claims that the Apple iTunes service violates Norwegian law because of its Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology.

These two groups oversee consumer protection issues in Norway. Consumer Ombudsman Bjørn Erik Thon has said in a statement that Apple either will have to change its DRM technology or will face fines. He added that the message has been communicated to the company lawyers.

The problem here is the DRM technology used by Apple popularly known as FairPlay.

The songs sold on Apple iTunes are loaded with this DRM technology and this put certain limitations on the user. One of the biggest limitations is that the song will not play on non-Apple iPod digital music players.

There are also reports that Consumer Ombudsmen in other Scandinavian countries including Sweden and Denmark are watching the case with interest.