Us pesky Europeans… with our… separate countries and… distinct national jurisdictions! This NYT (FRB: 066570) piece nibbles at the likely reason Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes Movie Rentals won’t hit these shores until “later this year” - a regulatory “patchwork” that makes pan-European “content distribution ... very tricky”.

We’ve been here before - it’s the reason the European Commission has this month proposed consolidating regulation and offering multi-territory licenses to create a “single market” for content. And Apple has been here, too, as recently as this month, when it was forced to harmonise its UK iTunes Store music prices with those in the Eurozone, even though it blames the varying costs of doing business across the continent. I asked an Apple press spokesperson last week for further clarity on the European roll-out timetable, but he just pointed to Steve’s earlier keynote, and the “later this year” line.