Norway's Consumer Ombudsman has declared that Apple's Fairplay digital rights management system used in Apple's iTunes and iPod is illegal, according to a report at out-law.com.
While the declaration is not legally binding, pressure is increasing on iTunes in Europe with consumer groups in Germany and France recently joining Norway's action against Apple. France has previously pushed legislation aimed at opening up closed DRM systems such as Apple's Fairplay. Apple originally called that law "state-sponsored piracy." Other countries reported to be involved in pressuring Apple are Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the U.K.
The common goal of the complaints seems to be around the desire for consumers to be able to purchase music or videos from the iTunes store and use it on any device, not just Apple's. Apple has yet to license FairPlay, although some companies have taken cracks at reverse-engineering FairPlay.
Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Monday September 14, 2026 10:48 pm PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple released iOS 27 this week, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features to explore, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era.
Which iPhones Support Every iOS 27 Feature?
This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though,...
Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27.
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
