Surprise, surprise. The Department of Justice has started issuing subpoenas against the music industry, including Sony BMG and Warner, for price fixing and collusion. Since it’s a sloppy Reuters brief we’re linking to here, mainly consisting of a list of the companies involved, here’s a blockquote with the summary gyst:

The two music industry sources on Thursday said the DOJ’s probe appeared to be focused on the same issues, which included whether the labels colluded to set wholesale pricing for song downloads.

The investigation also could be related to licensing renegotiations with Apple, maker of the wildly popular iPod digital music player, for its iTunes store, industry sources have said.

Last September, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs called the music industry “greedy” for considering hiking digital download prices and warned the move could drive iPod users to piracy.

All our objectivity goes out the window when it comes to reporting on the RIAA’s heavy-handed tactics to maintain the status quo of their 21st century business obsolescence. We hate these assholes. If this DOJ investigation helps perform a Paul Sheldon style hobbling of companies like Sony BMG and cause them to radically rethink their approach towards consumers, we’re all for it.

Link: DOJ opens probe into online music pricing: sources

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