Apple deleted all non-iTunes music, court told

iTunes and iPod maker Apple deleted music that some iPod owners had downloaded from rival music services, lawyers for customers told a court in California.

The Wall Street Journal reports that between 2007 and 2009, when some iPods detected music that originated from sources other than iTunes it would display an error message that instructed the user to restore the device to its factory settings. Once the device was restored, the music from the rival service would not re-sync to the iPod.

The news comes from court proceedings in a class-action lawsuit against Apple, where the firm is accused of stifling competition of the iPod and iTunes, with those who brought proceedings claiming Apple forced them to pay more for iPods.