Submission + - Appeal Against RIAA Given Go Ahead (unitethecows.com)
UniteTheCows writes: Today a US Supreme Court declined to review a lawsuit against the RIAA and major record labels in relational to price fixing digital music downloads.
The lawsuit by Kevin Starr on behalf of people who dowloaded music online was originally dismissed in 2008, however the appeals court ruled today that a judge had erred in dismissing the case.
Starr claims that the major labels which include Sony, EMI, Warner and Universal jointly decided a 70% wholesale price for digital downloads of music despite the fact that exisiting (read rival) online stores were already selling tracks for much less. Possibly the reason why the 99c per song pricing scheme is so common with larger stores like iTunes.
Unsurprisingly, the music cartel tried to stop the lawsuit in it's tracks, arguing that there were no hard facts. However Starr's attorney said that the appeal won based on Supreme Court precedents for what constituted a sufficient case.
If successful, the lawsuit would see the major labels punished for their foul play. Better still, it could lead to a change in pricing which would allow for more competition and possibly lower overall prices.