Apple has been given until June 20 to respond to European antitrust concerns about the pricing of songs in its iTunesstores on the continent. It began in early April, when European Commission competition commissioner sent Apple a statement of objection over the pricingto Apple and unnamed record labels. They were given two months in which to reply. That deadline has now been extended. The problem stems from the fact that iTunes users in one European countryare stopped from downloading music from an iTunes site in another European country, and that Apple charges different prices in different countries. There are currently 15 different iTunes stores inEurope, some of which are deemed to be in the “Euro Zone” and some not. Within the Euro Zone, customer pay just under one Euro ($1.34) per song. However, in Denmark, customers payeight per cent more, and in the U.K. a whopping 18 per cent more, at $1.58 per song. The first complaints came two years ago, when a British consumer organization complained to the commission,which initiated an inquiry. According to a report, the labels investigated by the commission along with Apple are EMI Group, Warner Music Group, Sony/BMG and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. A spokesperson for thecommissioner had earlier stated, “Customers are unable to shop around … and buy from the iTunes store they would like to. [They] are unable to buy the same tune for the sameprice.” The commission has insisted that the investigation has nothing to do with the dominant position of iTunes in the marketplace or its use of digital rights management to controlusage; it was merely concerned with pricing issues. If the commission finds that Apple has broken EU antitrust laws, it can impose a fine on Apple of up to 10 per cent of its annual globalturnover.
