Regulators eye Apple’s subscription rules

Regulators are reportedly scrutinising Apple’s new subscription rules.

The system means content being sold for the iPad or iPhone must also be available through iTunes, giving Apple a 30% cut of sales. While content companies can sell subscriptions via their own websites, they can’t link to their site from an iPad/iPhone app.

The US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have begun looking at the possible antitrust implications of the system, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

They said the regulators are considering whether Apple is overstepping competition laws by forcing content companies to sell their wares via Apple’s iTunes store, and banning external links to websites to buy the product.

Meanwhile, the European Commission said it was “carefully monitoring the situation”.

Music streaming firm Rhapsody has already spoken out about the subscription plans, while Google promptly launched its own, more flexible One Pass, which takes a 10% cut from companies.