Thursday, March 20,2008 @ 5:45pm
eMusic CEO: unlimited iTunes is anti-trust material
Despite a lack of official word from Apple in terms of a "Comes with Music"-style unlimited iTunes download plan, the concept is drawing heavy criticism, especially from eMusic CEO David Pakman. Many in the industry are trying to predict Apple's moves before any official announcement [1|2], and Pakman claims that a potential unlimited plan would rank Apple alongside Microsoft in terms of monopolistic behavior, due to the company's market dominance with the venerable iPod, according to Wired.
"They're basically saying, 'Let's give a piece of every iPod sale to the record labels in exchange for bundling in all the music you can eat with every iPod'" said Pakman. "That's classic Sherman Antitrust Act behavior. It's called tying, and it's where a company with a monopoly position in one market uses that monopoly position unfairly to compete in another."
Pakman draws parallels of the scenario to Microsoft's inclusion of Internet Explorer with Windows, which arguably killed Netscape as a neck-and-neck competitor.
"The troubling thought to many of us is that it's a very logical step on Apple's part," admits Pakman. "But because they're a monopolist, they're going to be held to a different standard."