UK music-downloaders are getting scr0d

The UK Consumers' Association is petitioning government to do something about the fact that Apple gouges UK customers, charging them far more than their US counterparts.

The CA has written to the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) explaining the situation and highlighting that the current position is possibly in breach of European law. Under Euro law all consumers in all member states should enjoy the same benefits that the single market brings - it's like if citizens in Seattle had to pay more for their iTunes music than the rest of America. Clearly with a differential between iTunes UK (79p, 1.15 Eu) and Germany & France (0.99 Eu, 67.7p UK) there is not a level playing field. Those UK citizens who understand that they can use either the French or German sites to order directly on find they are charged the UK price if they are not able to supply as an address in either of these countries.

Although the CA campaign is focused on iTunes, perhaps because of the mainstream press attention it has attracted, Apple are not the only service overcharging UK consumers. The differential on Napster UK is even greater when comparing UK pricing at 99p (1.44 Eu) against 99c Eu (67.7p UK). This becomes even more distorted when US prices are used as a comparison 99c US = (55.4p). Clearly albums bought on the services multiply the differential by a factor of 10 as the albums cost ten times a much as single tracks.

Link (Thanks, Simon!)