IPOD MAKER Apple has come down hard on a man who made an add-in that allowed file-sharing on iPods. iPodDownload"s creator has stopped distributing the iPodDownload software after a visit from Apple lawyers who applied pressure. Sylvain Demongeot said on the iPodDownload Web site that Apple threatened his web-hosting company and his site was held hostage for an hour until he agreed to withdraw the plug-in.
The handy little iPodDownload add-on enabled iPod owners to copy songs from the music player to an iTunes library. No harm in that surely? Just in case the visit from the briefs was not enough, Apple has re-written its latest version of its online jukebox software, iTunes 4.7 to disable the plug-in. Apple spinsters admitted that it did break compatibility with iPodDownload but didn"t say why reducing the functions of iPods was a good thing.