EC reopens CD row in new price probe.

The European Commission dropped a bombshell on the European record industry last week when it confirmed it had opened an investigation into illegal CD price-fixing -- despite receiving no complaints and having no evidence that a cartel exists.

Amelia Torres, competition policy spokeswoman, describes the investigation as being at a "very early stage" and adds the brief will be similar to the one carried out by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last year, which involved the now defunct "minimum advertising pricing" (MAP) policy.

She says the EC is "investigating the vertical relationship or contracts between the world's largest record companies and retailers to establish whether the music majors are pursuing the same or similar retail price maintenance practices in Europe".

The commission has already written Article 11 letters asking the five majors, 13 large retail chains and a handful of online retailers for retail price information. Warner, BMG and Sony confirm receipt of the letter, although they refuse to comment. EMI and Universal Music International said they had not yet received it last Friday, although company sources confirm they will cooperate with the inquiry.

BPI director general Andrew Yeates questions the value of another investigation. "It is difficult to imagine another industry that has been so well and truly looked at and everything has been ...