Music Download Pricing Lawsuits Pending?

larry bagina writes "New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has subpoenaed Warner Music Group, apparently looking into allegations of price fixing with Sony/BMG, EMI, and Vivendi, and apparently more subpoenas are in the pipeline. 'As part of an industrywide investigation concerning pricing of digital music downloads, we received a subpoena from Atty. Gen. Spitzer's office as disclosed in our public filings. We are cooperating fully with the inquiry.'"

Comments

Re:Well, there is price fixing . . .

[Shoten]

I don't think you understand what "price fixing" means in terms of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Apple is allowed to hold their ground and negotiate a fixed price from Sony, BMG, et. al.; they are a single entity, and are allowed to set their own price for their own service (in this case, iTunes). What is NOT allowed is for Sony, BMG and other competitors to get together and say, "Okay, I won't give iTunes access to our catalog of songs if you don't give it to them either, unless they agree to our terms." The reason why this is illegal under Sherman is that such a situation forms a de facto monopoly...and an invisible one, as well...which in turn disrupts the benefits of a free-market economy. Trust me, nothing good can come of this for the record industry.