Computer software company Apple has filed a suit against the Icelandic government over the tolls imposed on the product.
The problem lies in the fact that the customs recognises that iPod Touch as a playback device; not a hand-held computer. This discrepancy of categorisation means the difference between a toll charge of 32.5% instead of 0%, as is usually the case with computers.
Lawyer Páll Rúnar M. Kristjánsson, representing Apple, told DV in part, “This is a big economic deal for Apple, not to mention the consumers, who are the real victims in this matter.”
Páll Rúnar asked furthermore whether it was not natural to ask that a device which allows the user to go onto the internet, send and receive e-mail, uses IM clients and organises household finances can still be called a playback device.
The case itself, whatever the outcome, will help more clearly define what a computer is, in a day and age where pocket-sized devices are capable of doing everything only a desktop computer could do just five years ago.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
