In Europe, Apple Faces Hurdles to iTunes Movie Rentals
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The European market rules will force deals to be made one country at a time.
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Rumors are abound that Apple will release a movie rental service on iTunes.  And as Don Reisinger points out, the company should do it as soon as possible.
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30-minute download? Pah! Yesterday evening, as America finished its working day, and Europe settled in for the evening, I started to download my first iTunes movie.â¦
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Rumors are abound that Apple will release a movie rental service on iTunes. And as Don Reisinger points out, the company should do it as soon as possible.
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Apple Computer's new iTunes movie service will not be available in much of Asia and there is no prospect of its roll-out in the near future, a company spokesman said.
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European Commission antitrust hearings over iTunes price concerns begin in late September.
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At the same time Apple was celebrating the iPhone's launch in Germany, elsewhere the company was defending its price structure for iTunes.
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(InfoWorld) - Just because three major online music retailers bind their music stores to specific portable players doesn't make it acceptable, a Norwegian consumer group leading the charge against Apple's DRM (digital rights management) policy says. "ITunes Music Store and others are unfair to consumers no matter how many download services follow the proprietary approach," wrote Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor at The Norwegian Consumer Council, in response to a letter written by Apple CEO Steve Jobs andÂ posted on the Apple Web siteÂ on Tuesday. Jobs examined why DRM exists and discusses alternatives to the current set-up in his open response to calls for Apple to allow users to buy songs from the iTunes store and play them on any device. Norway's consumer representative hasÂ threatened legal action against AppleÂ for violating Norwegian law by limiting iTunes customers to playing their music only on iPods. Consumer groups in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, and Germany haveÂ joined Norway's complaintÂ against Apple. Jobs points out that Microsoft and Sony also sell music that can only be played on their players, supporting a model that serves customers well with choice and a continuing stream of innovative products. He also suggests that groups like Waterhouse's "redirect their energies" toward convincing the music labels to sell music without DRM, technology that aims to restrict how buyers can copy or use the music. The four biggest record labels forced Apple to employ a proprietary DRM system as a condition of the agreement that allows Apple to sell their music, he said. Ideally, he said, the labels wouldn't require DRM. "This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," Jobs wrote. While Waterhouse agrees that the record companies carry some fault for the situation, the iTunes music store and others like it are ultimately responsible. "They're still the company that's selling music to the consumers and are responsible for offering a fair deal according to Norwegian law," he said. Still, with his letter, Jobs' appears to have stirred up some additional pressure on the record labels to change their DRM policies. EMusic.com Inc., which claims to be the second largest music download site, only sells DRM-free music from thousands of independent labels. But the site would like be able to sell music from the four biggest labels. "We are hopeful the remaining four will one day join [the independent labels] by licensing their complete catalogs and reap the benefits of consumer demand," David Pakman, president and CEO of eMusic, wrote in a response to Jobs' letter. Even though Jobs didn't hint that a solution might be impending, Waterhouse appeared to see a glimmer of hope. "If this means that Apple is willing to the kick the lock in technology from the [iTunes/iPod] combination this is really good news -- news that should be put into action as soon as possible to bring us all one important step closer to a well functioning digital society," he wrote.
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Apple Computer Corp is charging its British iTunes customers 17 percent more per download than its European customers, a consumer watchdog group has said.
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Apple&#39;s iTunes store currently has coverage in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
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Apple gets into the movie rental business, digitally.
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A consumer's group said Wednesday it has complained to government regulators about the cost of downloading music from Apple's iTunes system.    British buyers are charged 79 pence, or $1.41, for one track, while customers in France and Germany pay euro0.99, or $1.21...
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iTunes users might soon be able to download Fox movies, and Apple could also be ready to reverse its stance on licensing its FairPlay DRM, according to reports.
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Apple's iTunes is referred to the European Commission on the grounds that it over-charges UK customers.
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Apple Inc. is preparing to announce next month the long-rumored launch of a movie rental service through its online iTunes Store, as well as a groundbreaking licensing deal of its anti-piracy technology Â moves that could dramatically boost the appeal of digital movie distribution.
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BRUSSELS/BERLIN  - Apple President Steve Jobs  reiterated his commitment to charging the same price for iTunes  downloads across Europe as his lawyers defended the company on  Wednesday against allegations its prices are not uniform.
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Apple Inc. is planning to launch an online movie rental service by fall, although the company is meeting resistance from some Hollywood studios concerned about piracy, people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press on Monday.