EU chief criticizes Apple's iPod/iTunes music ecosystem

European pressure on Apple aggrandized yesterday when EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Meglena Kuneva spoken out against the tie-in between the iPod and Apple's iTunes Store.

Apple's closed iPod/iTunes music ecosystem that restricts users to play iTunes’ songs in any player other than iPods has been facing much criticism from several European countries that are urging gaming console manufacturer to make its iTunes interoperable.

Speaking on the topic of Digital Rights Management (DRM), Kuneva said, “Do you think it’s fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don’t. Something has to change.”

Kuneva also said that she believes consumers should not be locked into the iPod by music they download from Apple's iTunes Store.

Apple’s revolutionary gaming console iPod cannot play DRM-laden songs purchased from rival online music stores and FairPlay. Similarly, Apple's DRM prevents users from playing songs they've bought from the iTunes Music Store on other music players.

Although Kuneva’s comment was made in a magazine interview, the EU commission said it simply represented the commissioner's personal views and was not an official stance on the matter, according to a report that was due to publish on Monday.

In January, 2007, the Norwegian government declared iTunes DRM technology illegal, saying that Apple’s FairPlay digital rights management technology violates the country's laws by locking songs downloaded from the iTunes Store to the iPod.

Norway, the European country that is not in the EU, has given Apple until Oct. 1 to allow competitor devices play songs downloaded from the iTunes music store or face legal action.

Besides Norway, consumer rights organizations from Germany, France and Finland have also raised voice against Apple's FairPlay DRM copy protection scheme, which is applied to all music sold via iTunes and not available to other companies, and also issued a joint statement with their counterparts in Norway criticizing Apple.

Immensely pressurized by the European countries, Apple CEO Steve Jobs sent an open letter to record labels asking them to remove DRM from their music libraries.

He expressed his opinion about the issues in Europe in the open letter: “Those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard.”

“The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly,” he wrote.