Apple Computer is threatening to take legal action against an upstart music channel if it doesnit stop a new advertising campaign that resembles Appleis current iPod ads, the New York Post reports in its Friday edition.

The Post reported that Apple legal counsel has been threatening the Fuse cable network and its parent company, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, if it doesnit take down its ads, which went up on phone kiosks, buses, and bus shelters in New York City on Monday.

The outdoor campaign is planned to expand to other U.S. cities and the ads are expected to appear in some national music magazines.

The ads resemble Appleis iPod ads in its silhouette style, but they also are quite risque with one depicting a man masturbating, another showing a woman pole dancing and another (see below) showing a woman feeding a man beer from a can through a funnel. All the ads have the slogan, "fuse music television. watch different.".

The Fuse channel is catching heat from Apple for ads similiar in style to its iPod ads.

Calling the ads a "nod" to Appleis contribution to the digital music revolution, Marc Juris, president of Fuse told the Reuters news agency Monday, "weire going after music lovers and are all about being interactive and the iPod has clearly redefined the way people experience music."

A spokeswoman for Fuse said on Monday that the network did not anticipate any negative reaction from Apple to its campaign. "The only dialogue Iive had with Apple is with technical support for help with my Mac or one of my three iPods," said Mr. Juris, a self-described Apple fan.

Apparently, Apple has received numerous calls from iPod users who have expressed outrage over the advertisements, a source said told The Post and is now trying to presuade the network to abandon its campaign.

Fuse is a MTV competitor and was launched in May 2003. Fuse now reaches nearly 40 million subscribers and is available primarily on satellite and digital cable systems.

Spokespersons for Apple and Fuse were not immediately available for comment to The Mac Observer.