Steve Jobs will face two hours of questioning

WEARER OF TURTLENECKS Steve Jobs has been ordered to answer questions regarding antitrust allegations in relation to Apple's Itunes music service and Ipod music player.

The CEO of Apple will have to spend up to two hours giving a deposition regarding software changes to the Ipod after the US Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd made the ruling on Sunday, according to Bloomberg.

A complaint was originally filed in 2005 after music files engineered by Realnetworks no longer worked on the Ipod after software changes in October 2004. Apple was accused of operating a monopoly and a class-action lawsuit was brought to court by Thomas Slattery, an Itunes customer.

Apple is being hauled over the coals for encoding music files with its proprietary software, Fairplay, which allows only music bought from Itunes to be played on the Ipod, as well as making only the Ipod able to play Itunes songs in the first place. This effectively eliminated any potential competition in both music players and music download services, according to the complaint.

Since Apple changed its software to make Realnetwork's Harmony music service inoperable with the Ipod only five days after the company announced the service for the Apple device, it appears obvious that Apple didn't want to share a slice of the pie.

Jobs will face some tough questioning over these issues, but it remains to be seen what the courts will decide in terms of Apple's alleged Itunes monopoly. µ