iTunes Heads Into European Battle
01.24.07 - 10:27am
Itunes is running into harder and harder times in Europe as the call for “open iTunes” is crescendoing across the continent. France and Germany are now joining Nordic regulators (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) to push for iTunes to be compatible with all digital music players. The Nordic regulators claimed last June that Apple’s iTunes violated contract and copyright laws
‘Apple is aware of the concerns we’ve heard from several agencies in Europe and we’re looking forward to resolving these issues as quickly as possible,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said Monday. ”Apple hopes that European governments will encourage a competitive environment that lets innovation thrive, protects intellectual property and allows consumers to decide which products are successful.”
So far Norway has given Apple till September to change its policies, or face legal action and fines in Norway. France already passed a law last August that allows regulators to force Apple to make its iPod player and iTunes compatible with rival offerings.
Despite the force of European countries to open iTunes it seems to be unlikely that Steve Jobs will erase the DRM’s and make iTunes open to competition. Chris LeTocq, analyst for Guernsey Research, said “They are the majority market holder with iTunes and the iPod, and they have a business model built around it, I really don’t see them changing.” Remarking on Steve Jobs he said, “It’s going to be a cold day in hell before he agrees to it.”
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