European official pressures Apple

San Jose Mercury News: European official pressures Apple.

Apple should let people listen to songs downloaded from its iTunes store on devices that compete with the iPod, Europe's top consumer regulator said, increasing pressure on the Cupertino company to loosen its grip on online music sales.

"Do you find it right that a CD works in all CD players while an iTunes song only works on an iPod? I don't," European Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told German magazine Focus in an interview published Monday. "Something has to change."

Kuneva echoed calls from consumer groups and regulators in Norway, Sweden, France and Germany for Apple to remove its restrictions on music from iTunes. They want the company to allow downloaded music to be played on any MP3 player.

I know my Libertarian friends will disagree, but this sounds perfectly reasonable. Who wants to live in a world where gas only works in certain cars, or phone calls can be made only with a certain brand of phones? Interoperability is a must.