Apple Still Hoping For Pan-Euro iTunes Store

Despite being investigated by the European Commission, Apple is still hoping that one day it will be able to operate a single pan-European iTunes Store. While Apple is under investigation, it is not the main focus, and has been acknowledged as being placed in a position where it had little say in the matter.

While Apple's lawyers were defending the company in Brussels in the hearings on non-uniform pricing of songs across the European iTunes music stores, Steve Jobs was defending the company in his own way.
"We think prices should be the same," Jobs said at a conference attended by Reuters. "We think anybody in Europe should buy off any store."
Unfortunately the situation is out of Apple's hands, something the European Commission is aware of, as it has placed the majority of the blame for the situation on Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group, who are charged with forcing the company to curtail cross-border access to its digital music store.

During the hearing, Apple representatives were quoted by Reuters as saying that there was "nothing in its contract with Universal obliging it to operate national stores or to set a higher price in countries such as Britain."
While the company was in no way forced into anything, it wasn't given much choice either. The Apple spokesman stated that the company "always wanted to operate a single, pan-European iTunes store… But we were advised by the music labels and publishers that there were certain legal limits to the rights they could grant us."

Apple's desires for one single European iTunes Store may be a long way off, as the business model still employed by the labels in outdated and would require a significant investment to change, especially when it comes to intellectual property laws.