British-based Play.com, a privately-based retailer, has launched a new download store in direct competition with Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iTunes Store in the United Kingdom. PlayDigitial will offer tracks without digital rights management (DRM) technology from privately-held EMI Group and independent labels, in a move that looks similar to iTunes current offering of DRM-free tracks at lower prices. The store will still offer DRM tracks at higher prices than the DRM-free tracks and is in talks with other labels to bring more DRM-free tracks into the store.

Play.com's new store comes in advance of Amazon.com Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMZN) sister store in the UK, Amazon.co.uk, opening a similar store with DRM-free tracks. The U.S. store recently opened its own MP3 store in full with DRM-free tracks from all the major labels, not simply limited to one major and independents. According to Billboard, the UK version of iTunes controls 70% of the market there and the store is also being forced to bring prices down to common prices with other European nations. PlayDigital and the eventual Amazon download store in the UK will work against that control and price drops.

It seems odd that the "fight" against digital rights management continues, considering that it has essentially been over in the United States since last month when Amazon's MP3 store gained access to tracks from all the major labels without the technology. Obviously different laws exist for agreements with companies in different countries, but until DRM is dropped completely, moves like this are going to continue to occur. Unfortunately for Apple and the iTunes Store, the drive against DRM technology that was started about a year ago is no longer under the company's control, with stores like Play.com and Amazon.com taking the lead and gaining better deals with the music labels.

It looks like Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is using its power for good. Now that it's partnering with major music companies in the digital music arena, it's hoped that customers will soon be able to listen to their music without all the nasty Digital Rights Management (DRM) problems that limits their digital music choices.

The music industry has been deathly afraid of the transition from CDs and other physical media to digital formats (MP3, for example), and so it locked up files in a protective "wrapper" that prevented customers from trading digital music files for free like candy outside a candy store. The only problem with that was that the universe of digital music players ended up with different formats, incompatibility issues, extreme customer frustration and the actual limiting of music sales for many companies based on how heavily they all treated customers as criminals.

That day may be ending, and to a good part, we have Apple CEO Steve Jobs to thank for this. Although Jobs was not even close to being the first to publicly state the need for getting rid of digital protection in order for the music industry to expand, his voice was probably the most powerful. As such, the EMI Group will soon sell its digital music filed on Apple's iTunes music store with better sound quality and no digital rights management restrictions. Strike one up for pleasing the customer, not the stingy and protective record labels. Apple just can't seem to do wrong these days, and I think its shares reflect that, yes?