According to Reuters European Union consumer chief Meglena Kuneva has come out swinging against Apple's increasingly powerful iTunes/iPod combination. In an interview published in German weekly magazine Focus Commissioner Kuneva was quoted as saying:

Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't. Something has to change.

The quote was a preview of an interview to be published on Monday but only represented the commissioner's personal views, not those of the Commission according to spokeswoman Helen Kearns.

I don't think she was stating it as a definitive policy position. At this stage it is her gut instinct.

Norway has given Apple until Oct. 1, 2007 to change their music download system or face legal action and consumer rights groups from Germany, France and Finland have joined forces against iTunes.