iTunes 'rips off' British customers
Consumer watchdogs have been urged to investigate Apple's new iTunes music download service. British music fans downloading songs from the service have to pay more than anyone else in Europe.
The Consumers' Association has written to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to highlight the price of using the service here compared with the other European countries where it is available.
It costs UK music fans 79p (120 euro cents) to download one track, yet in France and Germany the price is just 99 euro cents (68p).
UK consumers are barred from registering with overseas services because they need to give a postal address and payment details in either France or Germany, according to the Consumers' Association.
No-one from Apple was initially available to comment today.
However, the company told the Consumers' Association: "The underlying economic model in each country has an impact on how we price our track downloads.
"That's not unusual. Look at the price of CDs in the US versus the UK.
"We believe the real comparison to be made is with the price of other track downloads in the UK."
The Consumers' Association is urging the OFT to investigate the price difference as a possible breach of competition law.
Under European law, UK consumers are supposed to enjoy the same benefits of the single market as other citizens in member states.
Phil Evans, from the campaign body, said: "Consumers' Association has submitted a letter of complaint to the OFT urging them to investigate what appears to be anti-competitive and discriminatory behaviour by iTunes against UK consumers.
"There appears to be considerable evidence that the iTunes set- up is prejudiced against the UK public and distorts the very basis of the single market.
"If the OFT agrees, it will be another example of the rip-off culture that the British public are often victims of."
The iTunes service in the UK offers more than 700,000 songs from artists such as The Pixies, The Darkness, PJ Harvey, Jamie Cullum and George Michael, which users can preview or buy and download.
The US version charges users 99 US cents (55p) per song.
