A court has decided that the record companies are free to rip off UK consumer in a poor decision that will see them further monopolising the distribution of popular music.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6700639.stmOnline retailer CD-Wow must pay £41m to British record companies after breaking a deal to stop selling illegally imported cheap albums in the UK.
The High Court in London ruled in March that the site's owners, Music Trading Online, were "in substantial breach" of a 2004 agreement to stop importing CDs.
In a statement, CD-Wow said the British courts had set a "dangerous precedent".
"I fear what is happening is an attempt to use the combined brute force of the record industry to force the retailers and, in turn, our clients, to keep lining the pockets of the fat cat executives," said Mr Wesslen.
"It shouldn't matter whether we are buying from an official distributor in the UK, Europe or the Far East, what is important is that we are buying legitimate products from the record companies themselves."
The retailer is now calling for a full review of copyright law.
What was at stake here folks was the right of the rip off record companies to levy stealth taxes on any market that they feel will tolerate it, in America this would be grounds for a class action due to the fact that the product has been purchased from the record companies involved legitimately and they have laws against forcing a monopoly , the recording industry is now happy to overcharge the UK consumer any amount they choose, and its not just the UK market this happens in nor just the music industry, it seems if your in any market, whatever the exchange rate UK consumers are more likely to be hit with hidden taxes, costs, and levies not paid elsewhere and its this localised charging method that shows you how corrupt these people are.
There is no justification for the UK music industry to import CD's pressed in Gemany and then get a court order barring their import from other places where they are also pressed and sold legitimately but for a more reasonable price, these corrupt business practices should be outlawed and the copyright law amended to make clear the owner of legitimate goods should be protected against corrupt monopoly practices under the guise of copyright protection.
