EU receives Apple's iTunes response
updated 09:00 am EDT, Thu June 21, 2007
Apple responds to EU
Apple has finally responded to the European Commission's request for a response relating its antitrust concerns over the pricing of iTunes songs. The commission, which had extended the deadline earlier in the month, verified that Apple had filed a response by the midnight deadline on June 20th, but declined to provide details on the response or possible action. "They answered yesterday and we are studying (the response) carefully at this point,' a commission spokesperson told Thomson Financial. According to the report, the commission is concerned that the iTunes business model in the European market prohibits users in one country from downloading music from a website intended to serve another and that those restrictions create pricing differences for users in different parts of Europe.
In addition to Apple, the EU sent statement of objections to the major record companies in April: one record company responded before the first deadline, set for midnight on June 4, while two others, including Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, were granted an extension until June 29, the report claimed.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2002
Down to the Labels?
I suspect that this has nothing to do with Apple at all. It's most likely a product of the byzantine distribution contracts the record labels have in place since time immemorial.