Support Our Site
Get Better Gear!
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App from Ginger Labs, Inc, US$0.99
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful from Scosche, US$129.99
- IPEVO’s Typi Folio Case & Keyboard for iPad is First-rate from IPEVO, US$79.99
- Scosche’s boomSTREAM BT Speaker: Features & Compromises from Scosche, US$99.95
- FX Photo Studio HD: iPad Painting of Effects Made Easy from MacPhun LLC, US1.99
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
The Last 5 Years (2002 Off-Broadway Cast)
- Jason Robert Brown
- The soundtrack to this moving off-broadway musical is heart moving. The lyrics follow a couple in a relationship for five years, one point of view going forward in time, and the other tracing time fr
- Brian Eno
- In his first proper solo release since 1996's relatively cold "The Drop," Brian Eno has constructed a whimsical and ecclectic masterpiece which is arguably one of the year's strongest records thus fa
- David Bowie
- It must be a lonely place to be considered David Bowie's worst album by just about everyone, including the artist himself. As the last album before Bowie "rebooted" and formed the band Tin Machine, "N
- Jeff Wayne
- With the new movie adaptation of H.G Wells' classic Sci Fi invasion tale, War of the Worlds, currently on theater screens everywhere, there's new interest in Jeff Wayne's rock opera version, and it is
- Chicago
For those of you who don't know, Chicago didn't always suck, and everyone in the band didn't always play a keyboard. When the band started off they were pioneers of rock and jazz fusion, and guita
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
News
Law and Economics Professor Asks EU Regulators to ‘Listen to Reason’
Monday, July 10th, 2006 at 3:00 PM - by Brad Cook
Thomas W. Hazlett, a professor of law and economics at George Mason University, has written an editorial for the Financial Times in which he implored Europe's anti-trust regulators to "listen to reason" when dealing with iTunes.
"While the [new French] law allows Apple to retain iTunes exclusivity if it gains copyright permission, this escape hatch could prove treacherous," he wrote. "Record companies want to renegotiate their iTunes deals upwards, and regulation sends its own signal."
Mr. Hazlett noted that the market has spoken in terms of the type of music system it prefers. "Regulators ignore what is efficient, as testified to by the most ruthless of Apple's rivals," he explained. "Microsoft has been flailing at the iTunes market since it launched, providing software for iPod competitors such as Sony and Samsung. The platform is open to independent device makers near and far -- just the type of market structure that makes regulators feel warm and fuzzy. Yet customers have given it scarcely a listen."
He added: "Voting with their money, customers prefer Apple's package. Were Apple to truly exploit its customers, its market would be ripe for an upstart. Microsoft is, let us put this calmly, a well-equipped upstart. Their counter iPod offerings -- giving customers a choice of hardware -- should rock."
The columnist concluded: "The French law aims to disrupt a process that was enhancing the wealth of nations. From the rubble of file sharing, with its Pirates of the Caribbean business model and its 'junkyard' user experience, emerged a spiffy iTunes marketplace where songs and their listeners embrace, 99 cents a hug.
"The format brought artists together with users, ending their conflict and forming a virtuous circle of co-operation. A rival field of dreams is now being built by the Microsofts, Sonys, Dells, Amazons and T-Mobiles, stomachs growling and each eager to devour a little Apple. Antitrust regulators should stand back and let Apple feast or be eaten."
Recent Headlines
- Reading, Writing, & Saving the World
- Free Retro Gaming for iOS - Activision’s Kaboom!
- Apple Adds Chomp Bits to iOS 6 App Store Discovery
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful
- Tim Cook & Larry Page Reportedly Discuss Patents
- Analysis: Amazon Kindle Fire Sold Out, Kindle Fire 2 Pic Leaked
Post Your Comments