I think many of us here are missing the point. I must admit that I am absolutely no fan of apple and news like this puts a smirk on my face; however considering the facts what Real has done is simply evil. Despite what dalls under what 'law' or 'regulation' the simple fact is that Apple doesn't want any software but Itunes providing the Ipod with music, and Real has gone and kicked that to the curb. As much as I LOVE that, wrong is wrong and this is wrong no matter how you analyse it.
Moving from this onto the price wars topic....many of you agree with certain prices, others see it as high. Personally, I think it's unfair to be charging pound for a song, seeing how it's a dollar in the U.S - I just don't think that's fair - however, if record companies could get away with justifiably selling CDs for 15 dollars and then turn around and sell them for 3 to 4 dollars 2 months later, then what do you expect? You can find most CDs for 8 to 13 dollars now, that was unheard of for new CDs about 4 years ago. Singles are 5-7 dollars a CD...? Come on. The line has to be drawn somewhere and it's consumers who have to draw that line. I believe in 'paying' whoever needs to be paid for a good product, but after knowing what I know I'd NEVER buy a CD for 14-18 dollars again (unless it's a double).
The music companies were against mp3ing because they knew customers would be able to pick 1 or 2 instead of being forced to pay 15 for the album, now they're still trying to set prices by charging a premium to redistributers of the songs. We've somewhat 'won' as consumers on the forefront because on a whole we have pushed CD prices down - to win again, we need to get mp3 prices to a fair mark, I consider this between the .50-80c per track region .20-40 for songs less than 3 minutes. Wal-Mart's the best I've seen so far with songs for 88c a track.
What Real did is wrong, but sometimes wrong has to be done for right to come eventually - I think it's a good step and will force Apple's hand to eventually open up the Ipod to a wider range of online sellers.

this is BY FAR the coolest thing Real has ever done. keep on apples case real. dont stop.

Funny to see people arguing over pros and cons, prices in $, £ or €, love Apple or hate Real, (all the way down to moronic angry mob reactions a la "crucify them"), when the real (no pun) issue at hand has more to do with Apple's business practices: when they willingly limit the functionalities of 'their' products, they harm *their own consumers* -- way more than any of their competitors.

For a company that markets itself on being smarter than the rest of the world, that's one of the most stupid way to go.

But then, I guess their stupidity will only be a surprise for those who *really* believed in Apple's ads.

I don't particularly care for Real's incompatibility woes. However, I do take issue with Apple's***ory of blocking interoperability of completing non-apple products.

Apple is in the "in crowd" of digital music players and should be setting a good example of promoting legitimate music sale across the board. Unfortunately, Apple's behavior does nothing to stem piracy. Why should I pay $0.99 a song when I can get it for less at Real, or even less (e.g. free) when using Kazaa?

If Apple is the best, competition shouldn't be a problem. Funny how they complain of Microsoft's strong arm monopolistic tactics. Apple should look at themselves.

Shame on you Apple.
Shame.

You do realize regular MP3's can go onto the iPod, right?

what is a "regular mp3"? Is it Franhofer's version or is it one compressed through LAME, or...? And why doesn't Apple support OGG Vorbis? The method to to read/write OGG is available to them for free, unlike MP3, and same for them to support it. It would cost them almost nothing in labor of adding OGG support.

I bought a portable OGG player last night and it sure didn't say apple or ipod on it. Unfortunately, I had no option but to pay for the MP3 support as well.

Been a UK member of this site I'm Fed up of the Apple costing (£0.99 a Track about $2.00)

The rest of euro land pays £0.70 a track.

Good Luck to real if this means that we get fair pricing due to the fact Apples iPod tech has been hacked then it's worth it

Do you complain about the Underground costing 2 pounds, or $4 US?

Do you complain about your soda machines charging 1 pound, or $2 US for a can of Coke?

What about your CDs, which have a retail cost of 8 pounds ($16 US) or more?

Yes, iTunes is cheaper elsewhere in Europe due to conversion rates. And it is even cheaper in the US. That is just how things work with currency exchange. The cost of living is higher in the UK, but so are your paychecks. All of these complaints about Apple being "unfair" are ridiculous.

Coke doesn't charge the same price in the UK, why should Apple be held to a different standard than everyone else?

Bollocks. UK isn't the country with the highest price level in Europe by a long shot. But the prices on both downloadable and CD music is way up in the top. This isn't conversion rates, price index, or any other market mechanisms doing.

Even I know that, and I'm not even in the UK :)

It's not bollocks, those are real numbers. Tell me another place in Europe where the metro costs the equivalent of $4. Check the facts:

http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htm

"Tokyo and London are world’s most expensive cities; Asuncion in Paraguay is cheapest"

According to Amazon.co.uk, CD prices in the UK are between 9 and 10 pounds. Apple charging 1 pound per song seems pretty reasonable to me.

OK, so you're saying that paying 1 pound for a track that is NOT CD-quality is resonable considering you can by a CD for 9 or 10 pounds, where you get the best possible sound reproduction AND liner notes/lyrics/artwork? How do you figure that one out? Even in the states this is an atrocity. I will not use iTunes, MSN Music Store, Napster 2.x, or any other downloadable music stores until they drop the price of tracks to less than $.40 AND up the quality of their mp3s, AACs, ATRACplus, etc to at least 256kbps quality. When you get down to it, a CD costs as much as it does because of production and marketing. REPLICATING a digital file over and over and over certainly doesn't warrant the high cost. You can say this is the fault of the record companies, but its really not. Its the fault of all of you people who are willing to shell out the cash for substandard product. Until they make it lossless and cheap, you won't see me spending my cash on their inferior product.

So don't buy from digital stores then. Obviously millions of people do not share your opinion.

Well said, no one is forcing you to buy songs from iTunes so please refrain from complaining as if there is no other choice.

For some music listeners such as myself, it is much better to pay $1.00 for a single from iTunes than to go to Best Buy and pay $15 for an entire album of which I only like two songs. Do the math, I could get those two songs for $2, or pay $15 for no added value.

I am a singles kind of guy, not an album listener, and iTunes has provided people like me a great alternative to conventional CDs.

Real is one of those companies that always complains about Microsoft breaking the rules, yet bundles a million things with RealOne that the normal user does not need and/or want, yet in the same breath they go break iTunes DRM because they are being defeated yet again by a superior product. Seems like Apple has a lawsuit they could file there...

"Coke doesn't charge the same price in the UK, why should Apple be held to a different standard than everyone else?"

It is this kind of attitude that allows companys to get away with crap like this.....

"Everyone else is doing.... so it must be okay"

MONKEY SEE!!!! MONKEY DO!!!

If it were anyone else but Real this would pass right under my radar...but since it is: "Crucify them!"

You all cry too much