Steve Jobs talks iTunes at EU summit

 

Gallery

By Simon Aughton

Posted on 19 Sep 2008 at 10:29

Steve Jobs joined music industry and internet business luminaries in Brussels this week to discuss ways of improving access to online services across the EU.

The Apple chief executive was invited to a meeting called by the European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes to discover why access to internet services such as the iTunes Store is still constrained by national borders.

The EU has not disclosed the content of the discussions, which were centred on an issues paper published by the European Commission.

"The European Union aims to create a competitive single market where consumers throughout the Union can choose freely among products and services, regardless of national borders," the paper begins. "The internet has tremendous potential to help to achieve that aim and it has already helped in many ways. But some Commission competition cases - such as the recent iTunes case - have cast doubt on whether the opportunities provided by the internet are being fulfilled or are hindered by barriers created in the offline world without consideration of their online effects."

Kroes says that she wants to know why.

"The people of Europe were promised a union, a place without borders: but on the internet they have not yet got it. Progress has been made; sometimes impressive, but it is not enough."

"I believe that the music industry can reach sensible solutions, allowing simple, workable licensing systems to be created," she said.