Can’t the consumers decide for themselves? at It looks obvious

Can’t the consumers decide for themselves?

One can say many good things about Apple, I for example intend to replace my old laptop with a MacBook. However Apple’s approach to selling music isn’t one of them. The idea of holding the the customers as hostages to your store is a bad idea, and seems somewhat out dated. In addition I personally favor a subscription service on being force to purchase music and therefore I’m using Rhapsody as my main source of music consumption.

But is Apple’s business model should be change by anything other than customers preference? If the ITunes approach is so bad, and it is, can’t users migrations to one of many others option should be the force to convince Apple to reconsider its business model?

Apparently many countries in Europe believe that it is the role of government to force Apple to change its business model:

One by one, countries across Europe are challenging Apple’s restrictions that keep songs bought on iTunes from being played on anything but its iPod.

At the least, these challenges represent a headache for Apple Inc., maker of the world’s runaway No. 1 digital player. But it’s not clear whether they will bring new choices to consumers, either in Europe or the United States.

Last week, the Dutch consumer protection agency filed a formal antitrust complaint seeking an investigation of Apple’s "illegal practices."

Similar complaints were filed earlier in France, Germany and several Scandinavian countries including Norway, where Apple has until Sept. 30 to drop its restrictions or face fines or even being shut down.

"We’re heading for a big breakthrough that will hopefully pave the way for consumers everywhere to regain control of music they legally purchase," Torgeir Waterhouse, a spokesman for Norway’s Consumer Council, told London’s Evening Standard newspaper.

Is it really illegal for Apple to demand that songs bought on ITunes will be played only on iPod, rather than stupid? Is it really the role of government to intervene in a market full of other choices? Can’t the governments of Europe assume that their citizens make their own choices? I really wonder.

Technorati Tags: Apple - IPod - ITunes - Rhapsody - DRM - Europe - The Free Market