Consumer Group Calls for Probe of &#39;Rip-Off&#39; ITunes
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Apple Computer Corp. is charging its British iTunes customers 17 percent more per download than its European customers, a consumer watchdog group said on Wednesday.
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Do your job, Jobs The Norwegian Consumer Council, which complains Apple and its iTunes music store acts illegally under Norwegian law, has reacted cautiously to Steve Jobs' letter calling for an end to Digital Rights Management.â¦
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The European Union's Consumer Protection Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, has lashed out at Apple, claiming that the company's strategy of bundling iTunes and iPods together is unfair to consumers.
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A watchdog group asks a consumer-protection agency to look into the higher price of songs on Apple's British version of its iTunes service. Wendy M. Grossman reports from London.
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation is criticizing Apple over its practice of encrypting user data into purchased tracks from its iTunes music store, saying it poses a security risk to its users.
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Apple's iTunes is referred to the European Commission on the grounds that it over-charges UK customers.
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The BRITISH PHONOGRAPHIC INDUSTRY (BPI) announced yesterday (October 7) that they are taking legal action against 28 UK file sharers, kicking off a rolling programme of legal action against &quot;major uploaders&quot; - and NME wants to know what you think about
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British consumer group Consumers&#39; Association has raised its voice over the iTunes&#39; pricing in the United Kingdom. Most notably, its anger is aimed towards the different pricing model Apple uses for its online music store in European countries.
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Newspaper is criticized for writing that recording industry wants to criminalize copying music to a computer. RIAA and even some of the group's biggest critics say Post got it wrong.
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Apple has been accused of bullying tactics in its battle to force a small UK firm to hand over ownership of the iTunes.co.uk web address.
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A French industry group plans to file a  complaint with prosecutors seeking damages from eBay Inc.   and other Internet auction sites for the sale of  counterfeit products on their Web pages, the group's chairman  said.
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Record companies in the UK are for the first time to sue music fans who download tracks illegally from the internet. The British Phonographic Industry, the trade body for record labels in the UK, is to announce
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(InfoWorld) - Just because three major online music retailers bind their music stores to specific portable players doesn't make it acceptable, a Norwegian consumer group leading the charge against Apple's DRM (digital rights management) policy says. "ITunes Music Store and others are unfair to consumers no matter how many download services follow the proprietary approach," wrote Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor at The Norwegian Consumer Council, in response to a letter written by Apple CEO Steve Jobs andÂ posted on the Apple Web siteÂ on Tuesday. Jobs examined why DRM exists and discusses alternatives to the current set-up in his open response to calls for Apple to allow users to buy songs from the iTunes store and play them on any device. Norway's consumer representative hasÂ threatened legal action against AppleÂ for violating Norwegian law by limiting iTunes customers to playing their music only on iPods. Consumer groups in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, and Germany haveÂ joined Norway's complaintÂ against Apple. Jobs points out that Microsoft and Sony also sell music that can only be played on their players, supporting a model that serves customers well with choice and a continuing stream of innovative products. He also suggests that groups like Waterhouse's "redirect their energies" toward convincing the music labels to sell music without DRM, technology that aims to restrict how buyers can copy or use the music. The four biggest record labels forced Apple to employ a proprietary DRM system as a condition of the agreement that allows Apple to sell their music, he said. Ideally, he said, the labels wouldn't require DRM. "This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," Jobs wrote. While Waterhouse agrees that the record companies carry some fault for the situation, the iTunes music store and others like it are ultimately responsible. "They're still the company that's selling music to the consumers and are responsible for offering a fair deal according to Norwegian law," he said. Still, with his letter, Jobs' appears to have stirred up some additional pressure on the record labels to change their DRM policies. EMusic.com Inc., which claims to be the second largest music download site, only sells DRM-free music from thousands of independent labels. But the site would like be able to sell music from the four biggest labels. "We are hopeful the remaining four will one day join [the independent labels] by licensing their complete catalogs and reap the benefits of consumer demand," David Pakman, president and CEO of eMusic, wrote in a response to Jobs' letter. Even though Jobs didn't hint that a solution might be impending, Waterhouse appeared to see a glimmer of hope. "If this means that Apple is willing to the kick the lock in technology from the [iTunes/iPod] combination this is really good news -- news that should be put into action as soon as possible to bring us all one important step closer to a well functioning digital society," he wrote.
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The Consumer Association has today complained to the UKâs Office of Fair Trading that downloading tracks from Appleâs iTunes costs UK consumers more than their counterparts in France and Germany.
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Apple Computer Corp is charging its British iTunes customers 17 percent more per download than its European customers, a consumer watchdog group has said.
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Apple and four of the biggest record companies this week must submit written responses to antitrust charges that they restricted online sales of music in Europe.
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Instead of &quot;Think Different,&quot; perhaps Apple Computer&#39;s slogan should be &quot;Price Different,&quot; says a group of disgruntled UK music fans.