iPod Tax Causes Sour Apples

An anonymous reader writes "Apple Computer is stepping up its push to get iPod accessory makers to pay for the right to connect to the popular music player." From the article: "It's not clear what means Apple might employ if companies don't go along, as Apple declined to comment on that. Though many manufacturers have signed up for the program so far, some have complained in private that it's too high a price. But for Apple, the move is a chance to profit further from the empire it has built on the iPod, given that the market for such add-ons is estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year."

Re:What's all the fuss

[noisymime]

Since when does saying "Made for iPod" mean that you have to pay dues to Apple? If I make an aftermarket product for a particular car I don't have to pay a license to the original manufacturer. In fact in the automobile industry you can even make OEM spec replacement parts without having to pay a license.

Re:What's all the fuss

[Buran]

It's not. I'm a VW buff and I mod my car. When buying aftermarket parts, you'll find that the sites that sell them have categories that you click on subesequently - make, then model, then things like body style (2/4 doors), engine type, etc. The site uses this to show you items that you can make use of.

The makes and models are always spelled out with no apparent problems that I've ever seen. Sometimes, there will be a disclaimer somewhere that says "Not affiliated with Volkswagen" or "These items are not manufactured by or warranted by Volkswagen" or something along those lines. However, because the items are made to fit specific vehicles, the sites have to use the names of the make, model, engines, etc., in order to be useful to you.

They do not use the VW logo as they aren't authorized to, which makes sense, but because they need to refer to the cars in the course of their business, they do so, and it's a necessary use.

An example would be Parts4vws.com Virtual World Parts [parts4vws.com]. (The company is named Virtual World, so they can't be drug into court for using "VW" in the domain name. Yes, I'm pretty sure it was designed that way, but it does protect them while allowing them to have a descriptive URL. There is no law that says that two companies in the same industry can't have the same abbreviation, and it's up to them to make sure they're differentiated from each other).

In other words, it's OK to say "Product X" if you're selling things made for Product X since you need to be able to describe your item and its design use to your buyers, but you can't use the product maker's logo or any manufacturer-designed or trademarked "made for product X" logos.

Re:Suicidal Apple Tendencies

[Anonymous Coward]

I initially picked a Creative Zen over an iPod. Twice the battery life and space for $50 less. This was 2 years ago, and I'm still happy with my decision despite the fact that I can't use iTunes.

Re:And so it goes

[georgewad]

>do you think anyone selling headphones with a
>standard 3.5mm stero plug should have to pay Apple for it?

No, but if you wan't to put a sticker on it that says "made for iPod" of if you want to use Apple's proprietary connector then yes. Or at least maybe. I think Apple is pushing it a little too far.

Re:Coin has two sides

[hackstraw]

does MS have the authority to ask for a cut of the sales?!!

To include the "Designed for Windows XP" logo on their product if its software it must adhere to http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/software/default. mspx [microsoft.com] and hardware http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/default.mspx [microsoft.com].

It does not mention any money, and from what I remember from 5 years ago, at least the software requirements were rarely if ever met (they used to be required to have a working uninstaller, few if any Windows programs met that criteria 5 years ago).

I'm agnostic about the iPod tax. Apple could be simply going after the bozos that are making crap and people might be complaining to Apple, and Apple wants to protect their brand name.