The European Commission has sent formal charges to major record companies and Apple, alleging they are restricting music sales in Europe. According to the Commission, some agreements have been made between Apple and record companies that violate the European Union’s rules that prohibit restrictive business practices.The problem is consumers are restricted in their music purchase, to the iTunes music store in their country of residence. Consequently, consumers are limited in their choice of music, and at what price. Basically, considering exchange rates, a British customer will buy the same track at a higher price than a French customer.
Apple’s strategy in these situations – as used for the DRM issue – is to blame other actors for such a scenario. According to its spokesman, "Apple has always tried to operate a single pan-European iTunes stores 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,”. To sum it up, as always, Apple is the good guy, but has been stopped in its good intentions by the bad guys. Classic!
This position, however, has lead in the recent past to positive changes for customers, especially considering DRM. Therefore, let us hope that Apple will soon find an agreement with majors, in order to finally pursue its good intentions…
Links
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2110725,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121
http://www.pcinpact.com/actu/news/35634-itunes-apple-musique-en-ligne.htm
http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/internet/0,39020774,39368385,00.htm?xtor=RSS-8
The European Commission has sent formal charges to major record companies and Apple, alleging they are restricting music sales in 
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