The USB Implementers Forum—which controls how the USB architecture is used—has ruled against Palm’s camouflaging of their Pre smartphone as an iPod. The Pre identified itself as a mass storage device manufactured by Apple in order to allow their phone to be recognized and sync music with iTunes. Palm made much of the feature when the Pre was first released, and after a back-and-forth with Apple (who wanted iTunes to be accessible only by their own hardware), Palm complained to the USB-IF, stating that it was Apple who were abusing the USB standard by locking other manufacturers out.

In a move that should surprise no one, iTunes 9, released yesterday, prevents the Palm Pre from syncing music. This is an ongoing battle between Palm and Apple: Palm released the Pre smartphone with the ability to be recognized by iTunes, allowing users to transfer their (non-DRMed) music. Apple countered by breaking this functionality, and not long after, Pre came out with their own “bug fix,” which restored it.

The Palm Pre is made by Apple. At least,that’s what it’s telling iTunes. Earlier this week, Apple issued an update that blocked the Pre from showing up in iTunes. Palm countered by updating the Pre to regain that access—by changing their USB vendor ID to “Apple.”