Apple: “Nuh-uh”

Regarding the persisting rumors that, despite all fiscal evidence to the contrary, it is in talks to buy Universal Music: Apple broke its long standing policy of not commenting on rumors yesterday to offer this gem (annotated by yours truly):

“Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has never made any offer to invest in or acquire a major music company. The press statements this morning attributed to Vivendi board member Claude Bebear are untrue, as Mr. Bebear has confirmed in a later report,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Beyond these comments, we will abide by Apple’s policy of not commenting on rumors.”

In other words, yeah, guys, do your math next time. Reported via Macintouch, which has RSS but no permalinks, so you have to scroll down—and the information disappears tomorrow. One step at a time, I guess.