Have Apple Bitten Off More Than They Can Chew?

The EU Commission (that’s the part of the European Union that regulates business and protects consumers in Europe) has started an investigation into the way that Apple allegedly limits the choice of music consumers who use iTunes. According to European Law, consumers should be free to buy the same product from anywhere in Europe, thus allowing them to shop around for the best price. However, if you use iTunes in Britain you can only buy from iTunes in Britain, meaning that you pay 79p for a track, compared to 66p if you were able to buy it from iTunes in France. Apple claim that their hands are tied by the record companies who supply them with the tracks. This is a classic example of how the internet has allowed institutions like Apple and the big record companies to take advantage of the lack of regulation aimed specifically at the internet. The regulators (in this case the EU Commission) are having to play catch up in an effort to protect consumers.