Control freak?
The newspaper industry has warned Apple not to try and be too controlling about the sales of newspaper and magazines available through iTunes.
The European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA) has told the BBC it is worried by Apple's plans to make sure that all direct online sales go through its iTunes store.
By controlling subscriptions for papers and magazines sold through its store, the ENPA reckons a large cut of the profits will go to Apple. However, Apple has reportedly claimed it is simply giving consumers choice, despite rumours that a clampdown on selling products and services in apps will happen soon too.
Apparently a handful of newspapers have claimed that Apple has stopped them from offering freebie editions to their print customers and publishers are now worried that increasing control over sales by Apple will stop people subscribing to publications via the newspaper or magazines' own websites.
The ENPA reportedly said: "consumers may only have access to the newspaper of their choice via the iTunes store, where the transaction would be subject to commission."
Apple presently collects a healthy 30 percent share of the revenue from apps and e-books sold via its iTunes platform.
Apparently publishers are also concerned that if they are only allowed to sell their digital publications through iTunes they will lose out on lucrative subscribers' information, which the industry relies on to sell advertising.
Apple has apparently not hit back at the ENPA's criticisms but has reportedly previously denied that it intends to stop users purchasing subscriptions through the publishers' own websites.
It has however, apparently rolled out a rule that newspaper apps have to include an option to buy via iTunes and critics have claimed this ‘easy option' will probably prove the more attractive method because of its simplicity, bagging Apple extra cash.
