Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories

Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other AsiaPacific countries

Many Apple fans on the opposite side of the Pacific from Cupertino haven't had much of a choice to shop from iTunes, even though they've had the App Store for some time. There's now a much better sense of balance: Apple just flicked the switch on the iTunes Store for music and movies in a dozen countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region. The company singles out our own Richard Lai's Hong Kong as well as Singapore and Taiwan, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam are also getting the media catalogs, which include local content along with the international hits. It's a full catch-up as well, with iTunes in the Cloud re-downloads and iTunes Match subscriptions available in every new country. If you're a huge Andy Lau fan but wanted his albums from the most iPhone-friendly store possible, the wait is over.

Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPod owners notified of RealNetworks-related lawsuit’s class action status, given chance to cash in (updated: not Real)

iPod nano thumbs up

Remember the 2005 lawsuit over Apple's effort to keep RealNetworks' Harmony DRM off of the iPod, calling the countermeasures an abuse that locked customers into Apple's FairPlay copy protection and the iTunes Store? You're forgiven if you don't -- the complaint was filed in 2005. Even with iTunes having gone primarily DRM-free over three years ago, though, owners of iPods bought between September 12th, 2006 and March 31st, 2009 are just now getting notices that they qualify for a slice of any damages if they register and Rhapsody's former owner the class action group wins in court. Of course, there's no guarantee that RealNetworks former Rhapsody users will win and get you music money to feed your iPod, iPod classic, iPod nano or iPod touch, but unless you're planning to sue Apple yourself, there's no penalty for a legitimate claim.

Update: RealNetworks has chipped in to let us know that it's "not involved in any way" with the lawsuit, which is actually an independent complaint centered around the Rhapsody users themselves. RealNetworks hasn't embroiled itself in a legal fight with Apple to date.

iPod owners notified of RealNetworks-related lawsuit's class action status, given chance to cash in (updated: not Real) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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