iTunes: All bill, no songs?

Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency is investigating claims that iTunes customers are being charged for downloads they say they never made:

"We have seen such cases increasing, notably since autumn last year," said an official with Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency.

"The damage in those cases seems to range from a few hundred yen to several hundred thousand yen (from several dollars to several thousand dollars)."

This would seem - with the figures involved - to be less about iTunes making up downloads, and more about fraudulent use of iTunes accounts. Curious that it only seems to be happening in Japan... for now.

On the other hand, after years of people downloading music without handing over money, maybe the music industry has now decided it'll redress the balance by taking money without people downloading tunes.