Apple rapped over UK iTunes 'overcharging'

The Consumers' Association has referred Apple's iTunes to the Office of Fair Trading, claiming the song shop is overcharging its UK users.

Its beef with Apple is due to the company's European pricing structure. To download one track costs a UK consumer 79p. In France and Germany, it's 99 eurocents - meaning a shopper this side of the channel is a good few pence worse off for every track.

Phil Evans of the Consumers' Association said the group had reported Apple to the OFT on grounds Cupertino appears to be practising anti-competitive and discriminatory pricing structure.

The group's complaint may hold water under EU law, which stipulates UK shoppers should be able to enjoy the same advantages as their European counterparts. However, a shopper wanting to buy an iTunes track with a UK credit card can't use the French or German service.

Apple responded that the price structure was based on market influence, saying in a statement: "The underlying economic model in each country has an impact on how we price our track downloads. That's not unusual, look at the price of CDs in the US versus the UK. We believe the real comparison to be made is with the price of other track downloads in the UK."

Apple claims it holds around 70 per cent of the market in legal online music downloading.