At last we are hearing from those who are suposed to protect the consumer across europe, and they are not happy.
http://news.com.com/E.U.+charges+Apple%2C+record+companies+on+iTunes+sales/2100-1027_3-6172679.htmlThe European Commission has sent formal charges to major record companies and Apple, alleging they are restricting music sales in Europe, a Commission spokesman said on Monday.
Agreements between Apple and the record companies violate the European Union's rules that prohibit restrictive business practices, according to the spokesman.
"Consumers can only buy music from the iTunes online stores in their country of residence and are therefore restricted in their choice of where to buy music, and consequently what music is available and at what price," said Jonathan Todd, European Commission spokesman.
Apple said it wanted to offer a pan-European store but was hemmed in by the music companies' demands.
"Apple has always tried to operate a single pan-European iTunes store accessible by anyone from any member state. But we were advised by the music labels and publishers that there were certain legal limits to the rights they could grant us," its statement said.
The Commission's probe grew out of a 2005 complaint by the British consumer group Which?, which said that iTunes purchasers in France and Germany need pay only 99 euro cents ($1.32) for each song they download, compared with the higher 79 British pence ($1.56) paid by those living in Great Britain.
The European Commission said it has sent a Statement of Objections in the past week to Apple and unidentified major record companies.
Why it takes nearly two years to get some action on a complaint such a this is beyond me, but lets be thankful that those in the UK are no longer likely to be hit in the pocket by Apple and the recording industry's price fixing deals that penalise folks in a dubious economic/racial manner.
