Ex-Apple and iTunes engineer revealed that Apple was blocking off competitors in its music platform for the iPod devices in 2006.
During the ongoing antitrust case against Apple Inc, plaintiffs subpoenaed Rod Schultz, a former engineer from Apple, to testify against the Cupertino-based corporation on Friday.
Schultz, who left Apple in 2008, worked on a digital rights management technology called "FairPlay", which is built into the firm's QuickTime multimedia player and is utilized by its line of devices, including the iTunes and iPod. The former Apple engineer also worked on another project "Candy", which sought to "keep out third-party players" in Apple's iPod line of devices.
According to AppleInsider.com, Schultz' statement can be related to a previous iTunes update that blocked a workaround for RealNetwork's Harmony for the FairPlay DRM by Apple. It disabled iPod users from listening to songs bought from the RealPlayer store.
In addition, the plaintiffs' lawyers also wanted to submit an academic paper wrote by Schultz in 2012. The former engineer wrote in the paper details about DRM implementation and also stated how Apple used DRM to lock its consumers only within the iTunes ecosystem, the iPod device and its FairPlay DRM.
"Apple was locking the majority of music downloads to its devices," Schultz wrote in the paper.
However, the Presiding Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers did not admit the paper as evidence for the case.
On the other hand, Apple said that the previous iTunes updates were to give visual, operational and security updates and were not aimed to break compatibility with its competing services. Schultz did not disagree with Apple's statement during the hearing.
Plaintiffs of the antitrust case are suing Apple Inc for $350 million for allegedly utilizing iPod, iTunes and its FairPlay DRM to create a music monopoly, resulting in the inflation of the iPod's price tag. Under the antitrust laws of the U.S., the amount could reach up to more than $1 billion if Apple is found guilty.
Schultz, who is currently a vice president of product at private cloud security firm Krimmeni Technologies in San Francisco, is the final witness for the antitrust case against Apple.
The case will be passed by Judge Gonzales Rogers to the jury for deliberations next week.