James Delahunty
26 Jan 2007 18:21
A dutch consumer protection agency, Consumentenbond, has announced that it has filed a formal complaint with the Dutch antitrust watchdog NMa. The group claims it wants an investigation into the "illegal practices" of Apple's iTunes music service. "What we want from Apple is that they remove the limitations that prevent you from playing a song you download from iTunes on any player other than an iPod," spokesman Ewald van Kouwen said.
"When you buy a music CD it doesn't play only on players made by Panasonic. People who download a song from iTunes shouldn't be bound to an iPod for the rest of their lives." he added. The consumer group said it was inspired by the actions of the Norwegian Ombudsman, who gave iTunes until the end of September to fix its DRM problems or face legal action.
A spokesperson for Apple said the company is "aware of the concerns we've heard from several agencies in Europe." He added: "Apple hopes that European governments will encourage a competitive environment that lets innovation thrive."
Source:
The Hollywood Reporter