FC: Apple's Music Store policy -- the fine print for expatriates

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 13:21:03 -0400
X-Image-Url: http://shawnyeager.com/public/photo-small.jpg
Subject: Apple's Music Store policy -- the fine print for expatriates
From: Shawn Yeager <mail () shawnyeager com>
To: declan () well com, dave () farber net

Declan and Dave:

I just received a harsh lesson in DRM and record label-driven policy that 
may be of interest to those on your lists who are Apple customers and may 
be leaving the United States in the future. Having purchased a number of 
songs from the Apple Music Store while in the US and using a US funds 
credit card, I regrettably didn't read the fine print. I've now discovered 
that if you leave the country, your songs may just disappear, as mine have.

I've recently moved to Canada and just this week had a problem with my 
PowerBook that called for me undertaking a reinstall. After firing up 
iTunes and attempting to play purchased songs, I was asked to reauthorize 
those songs, using the Apple ID associated with the purchase. No problem, I 
thought. This is the Apple Music Store, not PressPlay or MusicNet. I paid 
for these songs and they're mine. Silly me. Apparently, if you change your 
contact address and/or have your US credit card address changed, as I did, 
you are no longer able to play the songs you paid for while on US soil.

After going back and forth with AMS customer support, they pointed me to 
the terms of sale policy, and there it is in the very first paragraph: 
<http://www.info.apple.com/usen/musicstore/policies.html>

So, shame on me for not reading the fine print. But if you're spending 
money with Apple and plan a departure from the States any time soon, your 
money would be better spent on little round platters.

Shawn

--

shawnyeager.com
+1 416 305 4142




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