It turns out Apple has been controlling your music library since long before shoehorning U2's latest album into iTunes.


According to attorneys representing consumers in an antitrust case against Cupertino, the tech giant deleted music that iPod owners downloaded from competing services between 2007 and 2009.


As described by opposing counsel, those users who downloaded music from a rival service—like Real Networks—and tried to sync it with an iPod were met with an error message and instructions to restore the device to factory settings. Once the user followed through, those songs would disappear.


"You guys decided to give them the worst possible experience and blow up" users' music libraries, attorney Patrick Coughlin said in a California U.S. District Court, as reported by The Wall Street Journal .


But Apple told jurors on Wednesday that the maneuver was a legitimate security measure - and intentionally cryptic so as to not confuse users.


"We don't need to give users too much information," Apple security director Augustin Farrugia testified, according to the Journal.


The company became increasingly paranoid about protecting iTunes from hackers, Farrugia said, explaining that deleting non-Apple files meant consumers were shielded from system break-ins.


Apple did not respond to PCMag's request for comment.


The Journal reported similar paranoia from late co-founder Steve Jobs, who was quoted in the courtroom as saying music pirates were "breaking into our house."


Jobs testified in the antitrust case in March 2011, only seven months before he passed away. Now, as the 10-year-old case continues, records of emails and company memos from the former CEO—as well as a video deposition given shortly before his death—have been admitted into evidence.


The case dates back to 2004, when Apple released a software update that made tracks bought from competitor RealNetworks inoperable on iPods. A decade later, Cupertino maintains its innocence, arguing that it did not have a digital music player monopoly, nor does it have a legal duty to make products compatible for rivals.


Apple software chief Eddy Cue and marketing chief Phil Schiller are both expected to testify this week, the Journal said.


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