In testimony given in the antitrust case against Apple, the tech giant intentionally deleted music not purchased from iTunes from users’ iPods between the years 2007 and 2009. Attorneys who represent the plaintiffs in the lawsuit told the jury that Apple scanned devices for music gotten from places other than iTunes. If any was detected, users had to perform a factory reset of the iPod. Users who tried to sync and update their device with music downloaded from 7Digital or Amazon were told there was a problem with their iPod that could only be resolved with a factory restore through iTunes. This would completely erase the device, which Apple did not tell users beforehand. The security director for Apple told the court that it was deleted for security reasons, and Apple didn’t want to become vulnerable to hackers.
