[NewsPoster]

Following the revelation that the two plaintiffs in the ongoing iPod DRM lawsuit may have bought their iPods too late or too early, one of them has withdrawn, reports the New York Times. Melanie Tucker bought one iPod in 2005, and an iPod touch in 2010. The suit only addresses iPods bought between September 12, 2006 and March 31, 2009.

The status of the remaining plaintiff, Mariana Rosen, is in doubt. On Thursday, lawyers for Apple said that the serial number on an iPod of hers traces back to July 2009, but Rosen insists that she also bought an iPod touch in 2008. The iPod she claims she purchased in 2008 was actually purchased by her ex-husband's law firm, according to Apple.

Apple is seeking dismissal of the suit on these grounds. The judge has given Real until Monday to respond to the request, which was filed at the start of the hearings today.

If Rosen is removed, the suit could collapse completely, despite it being a class action demanding $350 million in damages. That sum would be split with everyone who bought an iPod in the affected timeframe -- an estimated eight million potential consumers, but any future plaintiff would have to prove not only that they bought an iPod in the correct timeframe, but that they purchased and subsequently lost music bought from the Real Music Store, which narrows the field down considerably.

Apple is accused of unfairly preventing iPod users from loading their devices with music from rival stores; updates to iTunes are said to have intentionally broken support for music sold by Real, but the entire case is in jeopardy only one thus-far unsubstantiated claim remaining of the original three in the decade-old suit. Apple has denied that its iPod software updates were intended solely to "break" Real's hacked DRM, but rather to close the security loophole that Real's reverse-engineering exposed.

[James Katt]

So the plaintiffs are plants related to Lawyers. They further are liars and are unscrupulous. The lawyers are simply evil and need to be given the death penalty.

[coffeetime]

People who listened to Real must had iPods. Why would Real gone the extra miles to convert DRM music because they knew those listeners own iPod. This is a waste time for the lawyers.

[James Katt]

Originally Posted by coffeetime 

People who listened to Real must had iPods. Why would Real gone the extra miles to convert DRM music because they knew those listeners own iPod. This is a waste time for the lawyers.

Obviously the plaintiff lawyers are evily greedy. All they could see was $350 million that they wanted Apple to pay. They need to be given the death penalty for not doing due diligence regarding the eligibility of their plaintiff or for lying about them. Scum.