Nevermind the EMI-Apple announcement, the shine may come of soon: Apple faces a fine of more than $600 million after the European Commission issued a formal objection to the higher prices it charges to download music from iTunes in Britain compared with the rest of the European continent, reports Times UK. Apple charges 79p in Britain for a song and 99 euro cents in Europe. On current exchange rates the equivalent of the European price would be 67p. On the DRM-free songs announced today, Apple will sell those songs in UK for 99p…the same songs will be available in Europe for Euro 1.29, equivalent to 87p.
The commission said that it objected to Apple’s practice of making consumers buy songs from the iTunes shop in their home country. As a result, it said: “Consumers are restricted in their choice of where to buy music, and consequently what music is available and at what price.”
FT: The Brussels regulator last week sent a confidential statement of objections outlining the accusations to Apple and to “major record companies”. These are understood to include Universal, Warner, EMI and Sony BMG.
Apple’s reaction to all this: “Apple has always wanted to operate a single, pan-European iTunes store…But we were advised by the music labels and publishers that there were certain legal limits to the rights they could grant us.”