The representatives of the European Commission (EC) had a closed meeting last week with Apple and other four major record companies, regarding the different pricing schemes used in different countries in Europe.

The meeting should have lasted for two days, but two record companies EMI Group and Warner Music Group decided they didn't need to show up in the oral hearings, considering the EC had been "persuaded that they are not responsible for how Apple prices songs". Therefore the meeting lasted just one day with Apple's iTunes global president Eddy Cue and general counsel Donald Rosenberg that joined Universal Music and Sony BMG.

According to a Reuters source, an Apple representative said during the meeting that "there was nothing in its contract with Universal obliging it to operate national stores or to set a higher price in countries such as Britain. Apple, according to the observer, said it had made unilateral decisions, in part because doing business in Europe turned out to be more complex than in the United States."

But Steve Jobs, that was present at the iPhone's German launch in Berlin had a conciliatory tone on this topic: "We think prices should be the same. We think anybody in Europe should buy off any store."

As previously reported by EDRI-gram, EC main concern is that "consumers can only buy music from the iTunes' on-line store in their country of residence. Consumers are thus restricted in their choice of where to buy music, and consequently what music is available, and at what price. The Commission alleges in the Statement of Objections that these agreements violate the EC Treaty's rules prohibiting restrictive business practices (Article 81)."

The case is not related with the Apple's dominant position in the EU online music market, its DRM-related practices or its lock down problems investigated by pro-consumers associations from all over Europe.

The case will now be referred to the competition commissioner Neelie Kroes that will decide if a penalty should be applied with the maximum being a fine of 10% of the companies' global turnover.

Apple and record companies to face Brussels over EU music distribution (18.09.2007)
http://euobserver.com/9/24787

Apple defends iTunes in Berlin, Brussels (19.09.2007)
http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=media&a...

Apple Blames Labels, Then Taxes For European iTunes Woes; Antitrust Attention May Intensify (20.09.2007)
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/09/20/apple-itunes-europe-tech-c...

EDRI-gram: Free-DRM music by iTunes, but EC starts official investigation (12.04.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.7/ituned-free-drm