EU price probe into Apple iTunes

[JohnnyMalaria]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6520677.stm

The EU has launched an inquiry into what Apple's online music store iTunes charges users across Europe, accusing it of restricting customer choice.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6522429.stm

iTunes checks credit card details before accepting payment. For instance, only people with a credit card issued by a bank with an address in Germany can buy from the German site.

Brussels says this system restricts where consumers can buy music and the range of music they can get hold of since no one version of the site has the same selection of songs.

More importantly, Brussels says because consumers cannot shop around and prices vary significantly between different markets, many people are being short-changed.

These anomalies, Brussels argues, are a violation of EU laws designed to protect consumers from restrictive business practices.

[BJ_M]

it is a good point --- IMO

[rotten apple]

How on earth do they expect Apple to extract cash from all its dozey cult followers AKA (especially repeat) customers. Its simply not possible to put in EVERYTHING, a irreplacable (short life ) battery that needs "the old battery removal + new replacement service" that is only 'exclusively' available from Apple Central Comand for $$$$. And before those poor deluded windozzzzzzzzze fanatics say anything APPLE DOES NOT FORCE YOU TO GET A REPLACEMENT battery . They are very FAIR!! All you have to do in the highly unlikely circumstance you still want to be using the same product for more than a year is to alternatively BUY A NEW ONE which for only a few ($100) more than the identical model you bought previously will BE IN AN EVEN MORE TRENDY NEW COLOUR, therefore you will be unable to resist buying it despite how much you have been ripped off,such is your nature .

[GMaq]

Hi,
Well as a non-partisan in all of this, I would say that copyright laws etc. vary from country to country even in the EU. I am an Apple iTunes/iPod user and since my address is from Canada cannot download feature films from iTunes. Now I could pitch a hissy fit about how unfair it all is, but in reality Apple is not above international law so they are not to blame (this time). I will say this, Apple was the first to offer legal downloads, integrated purchasing, and the player hardware in one streamlined cross platform user friendly package. That is the only reason I use it, Microsoft and the RIAA and their cohorts snoozed too long and missed the boat on that one. Time will tell if they can woo the market away from Apple.

[JohnnyMalaria]

but in reality Apple is not above international law so they are not to blame (this time)

But Apple is acting above EU law and the EU has stated such.

When questioned most recently about this, Apple claims that the royalty licenses etc are different in the UK and Eire compared to the rest of the EU. Yet, when iTunes was launched in the UK, Apple simply claimed that the market demographic was "different".

Apple is simply treading where others have already and charging UK consumers more for the very same product available throughout the EU.

[MOVIEGEEK]

It's about time the EU went after Apple,they've been unfairly(IMO) targeting Microsoft the past few years.

[GMaq]

JohnnyMalaria,
If Apple was acting above International law then they wouldn't be restricting content from country to country. Having said that it is strange that there would be a price difference, it all should be in Euros anyway, perhaps there are tariffs that differ in each case but the fact that they are limiting content shows that they are following some rule of law from country to country.

@Rotten Apple
Apple is not the only place to get iPods serviced and batteries and HDD replacements etc. There are lots of third party services like iPodShop.ca. Apple made the damn things so they expect to service them, that is true of any and all hardware manufacturers. As if Microsoft doesn't expect you to bring your Zune to them to get repaired.

[rotten apple]

Apple made the damn things so they expect to service them,

EXACTLY my point. There may be plenty of alternatives but the practicalities of high speed, high stress (low income) life, means such knowledge can be somewhat eosteric to the masses(not computer/net fanatics) and just like with the Apple spin/hyperbole that infers the itunes is the only software that can download media to the device i can imagine Apple encourage a similar belief to their expectations you state here. Yes in our society this is common for business (with financial institutions exhibiting the very worst of such ugly compassion free behaviour)but this and Apples other numerous excessively insidous actions imo are singularly extreme cf. 'peers'.

I think my point is a self replacable battery is hardly some unique restrictive tecnology - why haven't Apple modified there designs with later releases( doesn't even the i-phone not have a replacable battery ?) to increase ease of use, practicality and value for money for their customers, as their fanatics claim unlike the rest, Apple really care about there customers . Without the knowledge of a more reasonable tech specific explaination surely the possibility is there, that these are the actions of a group of immoral selfish greedy people, to extract cash unfairly from the gullable,the more intellectually challenged and those too busy just trying to earn money to survive to find out the facts behind the spin???

[GMaq]

rotten apple,

You make a compelling argument except for the fact that battery replacement for an iPod is not a regular event like replacing batteries in your digital camera or TV remote. I've been using my iPod daily for a year and a half and the battery is still at 80% of it's initial power, It also is a specialized Lithium Ion battery not an AAA or some other regular lithium or alkaline battery. I hope to get 2 years out of it before I send it in to be replaced for $69.00CDN. if Apple did decide to use regular type batteries (with a much shorter lifespan) to make it "easy" it probably would cost roughly the same over 2 years, and would be far worse for the environment. However ALL of this electronic junk is bad for the environment, so I'll concede on that. I just wanted to clarify.

[JohnnyMalaria]

JohnnyMalaria,
If Apple was acting above International law then they wouldn't be restricting content from country to country. Having said that it is strange that there would be a price difference, it all should be in Euros anyway.

I never stated Apple was acting above International law. I stated that the EU (i.e., the lawmakers in Brussels) claim that Apple is acting above EU law.

Also, no - the charge shouldn't be in Euros. The UK, along with Denmark and Sweden, have chosen not to adopt the Euro as their official currency.

You need to view the situation with Apple charging more in the UK as akin to Apple charging more in North Carolina than South Carolina...or some other state that is part of a larger federation with federal laws.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I hope to get 2 years out of it before I send it in to be replaced for $69.00CDN.

In other words, add approx $35CDN per annum to the cost of "owning" the device. Plus, every time you get the battery changed, you have to (i) go without for a while, (ii) load all your music back on when you get the refurbished - and empty - unit back. Screw that.

I wonder if Apple destroys the hard drives, or perhaps even inspects them to see what music people have put on their iPods.

I have lots of "specialized batteries" in equipment - ranging from dive computers, underwater lighting systems, GPS units, cell phones etc etc and I have yet to come across one device that precludes me from changing/servicing the battery myself. All my camcorders use "specialized Li-Ion batteries" - but they are readily attached and removed.

Bizarrely, Apple makes devices that typically hide the underlying technology from the user, yet, for the iPod, you have to follow certain good practices to ensure your battery life meets Apple's specification. So, if you happen to use an iPod like this user:

http://homepage.mac.com/paalb/iPod/iPod2.html

you have to plan your day around it.

Sorry - but not having a user replaceable battery is a crock.

And, if Apple applies that to the iPhone......