Apple’s 2006 ITunes Tweaks Likened to Poison Candy Bar

Apple Inc.’s changes to iTunes in 2006 were like a new-and-improved candy bar that’s bigger, has more chocolate and contains a toxic preservative making it lethal, a consumer lawyer said in a bid to convince a jury the iPod maker wanted to kill competition and not upgrade its music service.

Patrick Coughlin, an attorney for consumers, made his final pitch today in federal court in Oakland, California, citing e-mails from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that urged his staff to leverage iTunes dominance in digital music and testimony by a former company engineer who he said contradicted Apple’s claim that the software changes were aimed at boosting security.