This response to Steve's missive from a Norwegian Consumer Council advisor is interesting. I agree with his assertion that Apple has a responsibility to offer a "consumer-friendly product," but I think the case is overstated a bit.

What I think the Europeans probably aren't appreciating is the degree to which the record companies control the music industry, and any industry which touches on the music industry. Apple went toe-to-toe with them and won on the tiered pricing issue, but it's silly to think that Apple can snap their fingers and force the recording industry to abandon DRM, which they see as a key to financial success.

I do think the record companies will have to buckle at some point because consumers are starting to see the slippery slope from Apple's reasonable DRM to the the more pernicious flavors of DRM that are surely in their accountants' wet dreams. I just think it's a bit simplistic to think Apple has enough power to make this happen overnight.

Apple really should do more to fight the record companies on DRM, and I'm sure they aren't doing so because it's lucrative right now for them to play on both sides of the fence. But ITMS is about as open as you can expect for big-label content. If a year or two passes and ITMS looks the same or worse than it does now, you can probably point the finger at Apple for being complicit in the DRM conspiracy. But for now, I see them as "our man on the inside," playing ball with the record companies because they have to, but slowly gaining enough power to hopefully break the stranglehold.