Battleangel

As I noted a while back when Scandinavian countries were applying pressure to Apple, the U.S. would not stand for it and would stop at nothing to force dissenters into compliance. Well, here it is, the U.S. even said it publicly although they wrapped it in a big transparent lie.

A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official has joined the debate surrounding Apple’s proprietary digital music technology by criticizing European antitrust activities, but groups attacking Apple are defending their actions.

Speaking in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general at the DOJ’s antitrust division, warned that forcing companies to reveal their intellectual property stifles innovation. He used Apple as an example, in a nod to growing discontent in Europe regarding the way that music purchased from iTunes is tied to the iPod.

Architects of complaints against Apple in Europe say he’s got it wrong. “We’re not attacking intellectual property rights but saying they should be implemented in a way which doesn’t dictate which player you use,” said Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor with the Norwegian Consumer Council.

What the Norwegian Consumer Council fails to appreciate of course is that the U.S. is plain evil. And that the focus on intellectual property / innovation is just a deceitful way to promote lousy American business practises. They could just as well have claimed that the DRM dissenters were killing kittens or stealing from orphans or whatnot. With such naiveté it’s no wonder that the U.S. and its corporate shadow keep getting away with global racketeering.