The European Union has launched a probe into the pricing of iTunes music service. The probe comes after UK consumer group Which? noted that users in the UK had to pay higher prices than people in the rest of Europe. Apple have replied saying that they would like to offer a single European service, but face obstacles in doing so. Brussels has written to iTunes and a number of unnamed record companies to notify them of their objections to the way music is sold, the first step in formal proceedings.
"Consumers can only buy music from the iTunes online stores in their country of residence and are therefore restricted in their choice of where to buy music," said EU competition spokesman Jonathan Todd. Research by Which? in 2005 found that UK users paid 79p (1.16 euros) to download a song compared with 66p (99 euro cents) in France and Germany.
News source: BBC News
The move confuses me somewhat, just a few weeks after cd-wow.com were once again sued for importing CD's from Europe to sell in the UK. Maybe someone should notify the EU of this travesty too?
19 Comments - Add comment