Europe Makes Progress in iTunes Negotiations
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European officials said they made Âsurprising progressÂ in talks today with Apple over easing the restrictions it imposes on iTunes users.
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Technology giant Apple reaches a deal with the Beatles to end the dispute over the Apple name.
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The European Commission ended its&#160;antitrust investigation into Apple&#160;after the company agreed to reduce the price of music downloads from its iTunes Web site in the U.K., the European Union&#39;s antitrust regulator said Wednesday.
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Apple moved closer to selling DRM-free music with the release Wednesday of an iTunes update.
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A reported tiff between the label and Apple could signal a new negotiating stance.
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Wednesday was the first day in the life of a new Central License Agreement for music copyright holders throughout Europe. Now, license authorities and music publishers have agreed to dismantle their "home territories" and recognize each other's copyrights. Is this the prototype for the EU's new single software patent authority?
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Apple says it will deliver its iTunes music service to more European countries next month. Corroborating several reports in recent months, Reuters is reporting today that Apple Computer is planning the next
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BERLIN: Apple Computer Inc is planning the next wave of expansion for its popular iTunes online music store with a multi-country European launch in October, the services chief architect said on Wednesday.
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The EU iTunes Music Store retains the same features and per-song price of 99 euro cents, established in June for customers in UK, Germany and France.
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Music industry giants have agreed on a deal that aims to boost developement of new music distribution methods in the US and Canada.
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A consumer's group said Wednesday it has complained to government regulators about the cost of downloading music from Apple's iTunes system.    British buyers are charged 79 pence, or $1.41, for one track, while customers in France and Germany pay euro0.99, or $1.21...
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The EU antitrust investigation into Apple has ended after the company agreed to reduce the price of music downloads.
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Heads off EC investigation The European Commission has ended its antitrust investigation into Apple after the computing giant agreed to cut the price UK consumers pay to download music for their iPods.â¦
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Apple  is teaming up with  Coca-Cola  in Europe to give away about 70 million songs  on its market-leading iTunes Music Store -- more than a third  of the total number of songs it has sold there to date.
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Apple yesterday confirmed that it will open the promised pan-European version of its iTunes Music Store in October 2004. Speaking at the Popkomm show in Germany, Apple&#39;s online and apps chief, Eddie Cue, said
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An Apple exec has told Reuters that the company will be expanding its European iTunes Music Store in October. Vice president Eddie Cue told the news service
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The European Commissioner in charge of the single market, Charlie McCreevy, said Thursday he is restarting a consultation with industry with the aim of simplifying the European Union&#39;s approach to copyright levies.The move comes 14 months after the Commission abandoned a similar effort, following pressure from France and from lobbying by the music and film industries.Levies are slapped on a wide range of machines, ranging from photocopiers and re-writeable CDs and DVDs to mobile phones and MP3 players, in varying degrees in the 27 different countries. Their aim is to compensate rights holders when their copyright-protected material is copied.Levies on MP3 players, for example range from nothing to &#8364;15 ($21) depending on the rules in different E.U. countries. McCreevy said the current system is &quot;incoherent&quot; but he played down hopes of a total overhaul of the status quo.&quot;What is the right level? There are no easy answers,&quot; he said, during a press conference as he announced a consultation that will run until April 18. After hearing back from industry and from consumer groups the Commission will hold a conference in June &quot;to see if there is common ground&quot; to streamline the current system. &quot;Last time I suspended the initiative because there was no hope then. Now it should be possible,&quot; he said.Gadget makers welcomed the move. &quot;As an industry, we fully support fair and proper compensation for artists, creators and other rightholders. Industry is not advocating for private copy levies to be abolished, but has repeatedly demonstrated that the current system of &#39;rough justice&#39; is opaque, unfair to consumers and industry, and does not fulfill the stated purpose of fairly remunerating right holders,&quot; said Mark MacGann, director General of EICTA, the organization that represents the information and communications technology and consumer electronics industries in Europe.According to EICTA, levies collection has more than tripled since 2001, when the E.U. passed a copyright law designed to suit the digital age. The law permitted copying of copyrighted works such as music for personal use, but allowed individual member states to set levels of levies to help compensate artists.McCreevy said he had no plans to overhaul this law. &quot;The directive allows member states to set levies. There are no plans to do away with this. We just want to get some realism.&quot; He added: &quot;Hopefully people will come [to the conference in June] with an open mind.&quot;Meanwhile, McCreevy announced a parallel initiative to extend the period of copyright protection for performing artists from 50 years to 90 years. Stars that performed other people&#39;s songs in the 1950s, as well as the session musicians of that time, are at risk of being completely cut off from airplay and recording royalties just as they reach retirement age, McCreevy said.Extending the copyright period by 40 years won&#39;t have any impact on the price of music, McCreevy said.Both copyright-related initiatives will require political approval from national E.U. governments.