You better believe that we are using this pic one more time!
Apple, others face EU antitrust probe over iTunes deals: FT – MarketWatch.com: Gee, and just after Apple announced that it would offer DRM-free songs from EMI. This is a situation that we have been following for quite some time, so our loyal readers won’t be so surprised to read about this.
Apple Inc. and several major music companies are facing a European Commission antitrust probe after Brussels issued formal charges alleging that the deals that underpin the sale of music through the hugely popular iTunes platform violate competition rules, the Financial Times reported on its Web site Monday.
In a surprise development, the Brussels regulator last week sent a confidential statement of objections outlining the accusations to Apple and to “major record companies.” These are understood to include Universal, Warner , EMI Group PLC and Sony BMG, the newspaper said. The Commission’s main concern is that iTunes’ current set-up in the European market prohibits users in one country from downloading music from a website intended to serve another country, according to the FT. Its move against Apple and the music groups was triggered by a 2004 complaint from a U.K. consumer organisation criticizing the fact that the U.K. version of iTunes was more expensive than Apple’s product in other European markets.
Europe sucks
iTunes pricing per download – converted to US$ – for various European countries.
UK – $1.56
Denmark – $1.42
Germany – $1.30
France – $1.30
Belgium – $1.30
Britain gets such a raw deal.
US of Corps sucks
Humanity, in general, sucks.
I did some research, and the French download site fnacmusic.com, which is run by FNAC, France’s biggest retail chain, has the same restrictions. It only allows downloads to people with French addresses using credit cards issued by French banks.
So people in the UK can’t use the French service, which means FNAC violates the same EU antitrust law as does Apple. Probably most other download services in the EU, because they’re forced to by the copyright holders.
The law at issue prohibits companies from restricting sales by geography in the EU. Instead their products must be available to the entire market.
5 – You’re right, Nathaniel. This promises to get interesting, because –
a. Jobs already came out against DRM for music but asserts “the music companies made me do it.” That’s a defense. Sort of. Maybe not a legal defense, but Jobs is saying he’s not at fault.
b. The European regulators include the RIAA’s biggest bosses in their memo, including Sony BMG. The US congress may be too dumb to understand that the RIAA is no more an “American” association than Bush is a southern good ol’ boy with trailer park roots. But the Europeans are apparently lots smarter. Maybe even as smart as 535 geeks in a room.
This starts to look like a jab at the music industry more than like a jab at Apple. Jobs already publicly agrees with the Europeans. The FNAC wrinkle you pointed out makes this story even more interesting.
When did (Major Label) music become a staple of life, like food, shelter, clothing or power? Let the market place sort this out, governments have no business in the music business.
At least you can still buy your tracks from Russia!
The French site for Virgin (virginmega.fr) also restricts its downloads to France, despite being a British company. British can download from Virgin UK, but at higher prices, just as on iTunes.
So it’s clearly being caused by the record companies negotiating separate national rates. For some reason, the UK subsidiaries are demanding higher royalties.