Norway's consumer ombudsman on Thursday said Apple's iTunes must make music downloads accessible to competitors' music players by Oct. 1 - or face legal action.

Last June, Norway's powerful ombudsman, Bjoern Erik Thon, said iTunes violated Norwegian law by forcing consumers to play their downloaded music on Apple's iPod music player - a landmark decision that prompted other European countries to review the situation, writes Reuters.

The case would first be handled by Norway's Market Council, a legal body that has the power to demand changes to contract clauses that are found to be unreasonable. If appealed, the case would move on to the ordinary courts.

Thon said the courts could impose fines on iTunes until songs downloaded through iTunes could be played on rivals' devices. Pressure on Apple is building, with consumer rights organizations from Germany, France, Finland and Norway this week agreeing on a joint position in their battles against iTunes.