Justice Dept. Ends Antitrust Probe of Major Labels' Pressplay, MusicNet

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 5, 2004 - 4:26am.

Washington -- The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its antitrust investigation into Pressplay and MusicNet -- two joint ventures between a number of major record labels that were created to distribute music on the Internet. The Justice Dept. began investigating both services in the summer of 2001, six months before Pressplay -- a joint venture between Sony Music and Universal Music -- and MusicNet (Warner, BMG, EMI, AOL) would launch in December. The investigation examined whether the joint ventures affected the licensing terms offered to other digital music services not owned by the major labels, and whether or not the joint ventures impeded the growth of the digital music market, solidifying the major labels' central roles in the existing music market. The Justice Dept. pointed to the loosening of restrictions within Pressplay and MusicNet that hampered CD burning and transfer to portable devices, emerging competition from Apple's iTunes, BuyMusic.com, Dell and MTV, and the sale of Pressplay to Napster parent Roxio in October as signs of a healthy market. "The concerns that led [the Justice Dept.] to open its investigation have now diminished or disappeared," the Justice Dept. said in a statement.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/December/03_at_719.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/201888.htm
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5133148.html