Rich Fiscus
19 Sep 2007 6:16
Now that the EU Commision is done with Microsoft's antitrust appeal, which the software giant lost, at least one expert believes Apple may be the next company to face penalties.
"The decision by the Court of First Instance is a clear signal to the European [Competition] Commission that it has the leeway to go ahead," said Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and a noted antitrust scholar. "[The commission] now has a license to go ahead, and they have a pretty aggressive posture. I think this bodes ill for some companies."
Although the commission didn't indicate any particular position on the matter in an April statement, saying "The Statement of Objections does not allege that Apple is in a dominant market position," the company will have to answer questions in hearings starting today. The hearings will revolve around the issue of whether the iTunes pricing structure, combined with a restriction that residents of each EU country may only make iTunes purchases in their own country's stores, violate EU laws.
Certainly Apple's market strategy is to use iTunes' industry dominance to fuel iPod sales, something other handheld music player manufacturers aren't happy with. Apple is already facing multiple lawsuits in the U.S. claiming that restrictions on copying iTunes downloads to other devices for consumption are anti-competitive.
The results of legal action on both sides of the Atlantic could cause a major shakeup in the mobile audio business. In the EU it could also be an indication of the future for companies like Rambus, Intel, and Qualcomm, all of whom face antitrust investigations by the commision.
Source: Computerworld