Subscription music service Rhapsody plans to submit its iPhone application to Apple for review -- hoping the recent government inquiry into anti-competitive behavior in the wireless industry will allow its service to be approved.
The Rhapsody iPhone app lets subscribers who pay $15 a month to listen to any song in its 8 million song catalog -- streamed over a Wi-Fi or cellular network.
In the past, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has ruthlessly blocked music subscription software, such as Rhapsody and Napster, that competes with its own iTunes services.
But Apple's recent rejection of Google Voice -- an Internet calling service -- has received the attention of the Federal Communications Commission.
Rhapsody hopes the increased scrutiny will allow its service to be approved.
"Not approving things for the app store is giving people a reason to say, 'I'm not going to buy an iPhone,'" said Neil Smith, Rhapsody's vice president of business management.
RealNetworks, owner of the Rhapsody service, and Apple have had a contentious history.
In 2004, RealNetworks released technology intended to bypass Apple's music copyright protection so that it could sell protected music that could be played on the iPod.
Apple quickly retaliated by altering its software, saying RealNetworks used "the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod."
