Wednesday’s Music 2.0 Briefing: EU Drops Apple Probe, Amazon Pricing, CES & More

> The EU has dropped anti-trust probe against Apple. In return Apple said that within six months it will lower the prices it charges for music on its U.K. iTunes Store to match its already standardized pricing across most of Europe. (InfoWorld)

> Will lower download prices at Amazon hurt the music industry? (BusinessWeek) If single download sales are the goal, what is needed is true variable pricing; much less for some catalog and perhaps more for some hits. Watch for our upcoming commentary The Amazon Effect.

>  The FCC is to investigate Comcast BitTorrent blocking. (ars)

> Webcasters appear ready to do battle with publishers and labels over reproduction royalties. (DMW)

> OurDigitalMusic has a list and link to the Best Places To Find Music News.

> Will DRM-free bite Apple? (Newsfactor)

> Hypebot’s Music 2.0 Predictions For 2008.

> The Washington Post has issued a retraction to a recent story that had claimed that the RIAA believed that copying a CD for personal use was illegal.  The correction reads: "(The) Arts column incorrectly said that the recording industry "maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer." In a copyright infringement lawsuit, the industry’s lawyer argued that the actions of an Arizona man, the defendant, were illegal because the songs were located in a "shared folder" on his computer for distribution on a peer-to-peer network."  Not exactly an apology but…

> Unable to get the royalty deal it needed Pandora will shut off UK access. (PC Pro)

> Music is an "enduring thread" among new products introduced at CES this week. (San Jose Mercury News)