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1. Comment - Universal Music to Get Cut of Zune Sales

   (Nov 9, 2006 - 5:54 PM)

   I think it's entirely speculative to believe that the Zune deal would provide UMG the ability to sue device makers. Clearly the Rio case that the Supreme Court ruled on gives Apple and others ample cover for refusing to pay a cut of their device sales.
   
   Yes, I'd agree wholeheartedly that this deal will be the foundation for future negotiations with iTunes but Apple has a lot of leverage here. iTunes pays around two thirds of each song to the copyright owner already, and they are the dominant player in the legal download market. Threatening legal action will probably result in little more than "labels are being greedy" comments from Steve Jobs.
   
   As noted by ehn in the comments, UMG smelled the desperation on the part of Microsoft and the cash-rich tech giant did what it needed in order to compete with Apple. More comments at my blog: femto.wordpress.com