ITunes Overcharging in the UK

Posted by michael on Tuesday December 7, 2004 @06:44AM from the rip-mix-burned dept.

KennyMillar writes "The BBC is reporting that the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) has ruled that Apple is overcharging for iTunes downloads in the UK. They have referred the case to the European Commission for a ruling. One important note is that UK iTunes customers cannot buy from the French or German iTunes Stores, and this goes against European Freedom of Trade rules. A spokesman from OD2 agreed that people in the UK should not be charged more than customers in the Eurozone. I've emailed Apple asking for 20% refund on all my downloads, but I won't hold my breath!"

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Consumer Globalism by crow · 2004-12-07 06:52 · Score: 5, Insightful

This is a case of the other side of the coin of globalism. Big companies like to be able to move their operations around wherever they want to minimize expenses, but consumers also want to be able to shop wherever they want to minimize prices. The infrastructure that supports one also supports the other. We need to keep vigilant to make sure the laws equally support both.

Of course, in this case, Apple is probably just passing on the policies set by the recording companies in their contracts. If my guess is right, then hopefully they can use this ruling to get more equitable terms in their contracts.