The US Department of Justice is investigating allegations of price fixing by top music labels on their charges for digital downloading. The inquiry mirrors an ongoing probe by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer into what the industry charges firms such as Apple to sell music online.
“The antitrust division is looking at the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the music download industry,” a Department of Justice spokeswoman said. However, industry experts said the authorities would look into claims that music labels were colluding to fix wholesale prices for online retailers such as Apple.
The four major labels – Universal Music, Sony BMG, Warner Music and EMI – want Apple to vary the price of songs downloaded via its iTunes digital music store, which had more than 20 million users last year.
You can expect as much “independence” from the DOJ as we get from Congress when it comes to an industry as backwards — and wealthy — as the RIAA bosses. Is this an attempt to co-opt investigations that might accidentally favor consumers?
Steve
For years the Music industry has been stealing from their artists. From cooked books to excessive fees, almost all the money ended up in the record labels pockets. Very few artists made big money from their recordings, most income coming from touring.
The Beatles and a few others are the exceptions because they own their own labels.
In my dreams I see a fertile place to use RICO. Let them pay three times their ill gotten gains.
Nothing to see here … move along.
Department of Justice is an oxymoron in this administration. They are only involved because it would make them look bad if Eliot Spitzer were to go after them alone. In fact, I bet the DOJ is putting more pressure on Spitzer to ease up on the corps than they are in attempting to apply the law to these companies (which they’ve done before).
Kudos to Eliot Spitzer and the amazing public service work that he has done for this country. His kind is few and far between in goverment work.