Apple reveals new front in iTunes battle

The legal war on DRM that prevents songs bought from Apple's iTunes Store from being transferred to non-Apple MP3 players has opened on a new front, according to the latest Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing by the Cupertino company.

The document reveals that an individual filed a complaint against Apple on 21 July 2006 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the link between the iPod and iTunes is unlawful and accusing the company of "unlawful acquisition or maintenance of monopoly market power".

The litigant, Melanie Tucker, is seeking "unspecified damages and other relief".

Apple also revealed in the filing with the SEC that it had sought to have the case dismissed in November - a move the court rejected the following month.

It's not the first time the DRM which locks iTunes and the iPod together has prompted legal action. Apple is engaged in an ongoing legal battle with the French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir, which accuses the company of "deceit" over its interoperability with rival online song shops.

Apple also fell foul of Nordic regulators and French lawmakers, who had hoped to break the proprietary link between iTunes downloads and the iPod.

Apple's SEC filing shows the Mac maker is engaged in yet another legal spat with a company called PhatRat, which alleges Apple infringed its patents when it created technology to link iPods to Nike running gear.