Ceasefire called in Norway's battle over iTunes for non-iPods

Yesterday, Norway's PMP interoperability champion, Consumer Ombudsman Bjørn Erik Thon, said there is no reason to continue his fight against Apple now that iTunes is DRM-free.

Thon called January 6 an "historic day for consumers of digital music," when Apple announced iTunes was going DRM-free. This action summarily ended the more than two-year-long demand for interoperability from Thon.

In November, Thon threatened to turn Apple over to the Markedsrådet, Norway's administrative body that deals with competition and fair market practices, for iTunes' incompatibility with non-Apple personal media players. Thon and the Forbrukerombudet moved to escalate the issue after Apple balked at Norway's challenge to provide fair options for non-iPod users.

The Norwegian consumer agency will reportedly contact Apple this week to let them know they're off the hook.