Rent Tunes on iTunes?
By Mark Fleischmann March 27, 2008 — Apple is thinking about an all-you-can-eat subscription policy for iTunes—true or false?

True, says the Financial Times. Apple has been "in discussion" with the major labels and the negotiations "hinged on a dispute over the price" Jobs & Co. would pay for the right to rent music to consumers. The service would be modeled after a deal struck between Nokia and Universal. Executives believe consumers would be willing to pay up to $100 for unlimited access over the lifetime of an iPod or a monthly fee of seven or eight dollars. Consumers might be allowed to keep 40 or 50 tracks per year.

True, says c|net, and it's all Universal's idea. A lusty filer of copyright-infringement suits, Universal wants to cut a deal for its entire library. It wants "to 'partner instead of just being a vendor,' a source close to the label" said. The idea would be that music lovers would become addicted with a year's worth of all-you-can-eat, then "rolled over into a subscription service." Universal is reportedly "obsessed" with the idea.

False, says ArsTechnica. Competitors already selling subscriptions would jump all over Apple for "tying," as a quoted source at eMusic put it. Of course, the iPod/iTunes machine has already been getting away with that for years.