Apple snapped back at NBC today. Late Thursday the network said it would pull its shows from the iTunes Store when its contract with Apple expired in December. Yesterday, according to the LA Times, Apple said it would stop adding any NBC shows to the service immediately. Dawn C. Chmielewski:

Apple Inc. said Friday that it wouldn’t sell future seasons of “The Office” or any other NBC Universal TV shows through its iTunes video store after a contract dispute between the two companies erupted into the open.

Apple’s decision not to sell new episodes of “Heroes,” “30 Rock” and other NBC series marked the latest salvo in the tug of war between the technology giant and the entertainment industry, which is increasingly unsettled by Apple’s growing clout.

NBC Universal notified Apple late Thursday that it would not renew its contract to sell digital downloads of its television shows through iTunes when the agreement expires in December. Apple retaliated by saying Friday that it wouldn’t sell any shows from the fall season.

The Financial Times had this interesting tidbit:

However, as part of any new pact, NBC is demanding greater power to price its programmes on iTunes, including the ability to bundle episodes at special rates – something it is now doing on Amazon.com. NBC also wants Apple to install stronger filters on the iPod to block it from playing pirated materials.

My emphasis. As far as I can tell, this requirement is insane; the only way to stop the iPod from playing pirated materials is to limit it to playing only NBC-approved DRM’ed materials, which will not happen. It’s hard to believe NBC wanted that prescription precisely; it’s possible it’s a leak from Apple designed to embarrass NBC.

However, says the LAT:

Piracy concerns are looming larger as Apple considers starting a movie rental service to complement iTunes. The company has been seeking licensing deals with movie studios, according to people familiar with the talks.

Maybe NBC just isn’t happy with whatever protections Apple is offering for the service.

Apple’s Steve Jobs is hosting an event Wednesday for what the Apple rumor sites are saying will be some iPod upgrades and other potential bits of big news, including the possibility of Beatles songs on the iTunes Store or the movie-rental service.

The big problem seems to be pricing. Apple is saying that NBC was threatening to raise the price on some episodes to $4.99, but it’s not clear if that is true; if nothing else, NBC seems to want to be able to price hot shows at a higher price.