France, Germany Join Scandinavian Groups In Effort Against Apple iTunes

Authored by Jay Baage on January 24, 2007 - 5:13pm.

In June of 2006 consumer agencies in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden charged that Apple was violating contract and copyright laws in those countries by not enabling customers to purchase, download, and play tracks from iTunes on their non-Apple portable players. A Norwegian official today revealed that French and German consumer groups have joined the Scandinavian countries in their efforts to pressure Apple.

Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman Bjoern Erik Thon said French consumer lobby UFC-Que Choisir and its German counterpart, Verbraucher, joined the movement late last year, according to the Associated Press, and that other European countries are considering joining effort.

"This is important because Germany and France are European giants," said Thon. "Germany, in particular, is a big market for digital music."

An Apple spokesman addressed the announcement on Tuesday: "Apple is aware of the concerns we've heard from several agencies in Europe and we're looking forward to resolving these issues as quickly as possible."

Related Links:
http://forbrukerportalen.no/Artikler/2006/1149587055.44
http://www.quechoisir.org/index.jsp
http://www.ombudsmann.de/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070124/tc_zd/199429
http://news.com.com/2061-10793_3-6153085.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news