Apple today issued the following statement in response to RealNetworks’s announcement earlier this week that it will release new software, called Harmony, that allows songs purchased through its online music store to be played on Apple’s iPod. “We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and other laws. We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods.”