Apple's iTunes music download service is facing fresh legal attacks in Europe.
Government consumer protection agencies in Norway and Sweden want Apple to remove restrictions that prevent consumers from playing songs they bought through iTunes on devices made by other companies.
And free market Britain may also be getting in on the act as the British recording industry's trade association, told a Parliamentary committee that iTunes music should be made compatible with other portable music devices. It was the first time the group had taken a public stance on the issue.
The UK is already partly agrieved as UK iTunes users have to pay 75% percent more than US users and 25% more than other European users to download songs.
The French Senate has already ruled against iTunes.
Apple will need to move cautiously over these challenges and there is a slim chance that the EU could pick up on this and legally challenge Apple for all of its 25 nations. I guess Steve Jobs has a plan: keep the monopoly complete for as long as possible and only open iTunes up as a real last resort - by which time iTunes and the iPod will have such a dominant position that they will remain hard to shake..
Me, I'm happy with my iPod for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment