Rich Fiscus
9 Jan 2008 21:36
The EU has ended their investigation of Apple over iTunes pricing in the UK after the company agreed to charge standard prices across all EU countries. At the same time, Apple is also planning to reconsider whether they should continue to sell downloads from any label that doesn't agree to reduce wholesale prices to match what they're already paying in other EU countries.
A statement Wednesday from the European Commision, the body responsible for handling the investigation, said that it “welcomes Apple's announcement to equalize prices for downloads of songs from its iTunes online store in Europe within the next six months. This puts an end to the different treatment of U.K. consumers who currently have to pay higher prices for downloads.”
Commisioners also didn't feel that Apple was forced into their pricing scheme by contracts with the labels. They released a statement saying “The commission’s antitrust proceedings have also clarified that it is not agreements between Apple and the major record companies that determine how the iTunes store is organized in Europe. Consequently, the commission does not intend to take further action in this case.”
Source: Variety