Requesting an investigation into Canon UK's pricing structure

We the undersigned wish to bring to the attention of Canon worldwide what we feel is a misuse of pricing policy in The UK regarding cameras, digital cameras, lenses and other photographic equipment.
We would also, as a secondary issue like to bring to their attention the lack of e-mail contact information provided by Canon UK.

Pricing Structure:
We request that Canon investigate their UK pricing policy and make any necessary amendments or changes for the benefit of it's clients and its own reputation. We would like to know why Canon equipment is more expensive in The UK than in The USA.

This price difference isn't a small amount, sometimes it reaches double the price for an identical item.

Pricing Examples:
Canon's upcoming D-SLR (the 20D) is priced at $1499.95 in The USA and yet it is priced at 1279.90 in The UK through suppliers like Jessops ($2,290.25 at current exchange rate).

These price differences also continue throughout Canons range of lenses, below are some random items;

EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. UK: 79.90 ($142.97) US: $74.95
EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens. UK: 579.90 ($1,037.55) US: $689.95
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. UK: 1449.90 ($2,594.16) US: $1,649.95

Can these price differences really be justified?

The prices quoted are average selling prices based from the following shops;
UK: www.jessops.com
USA: www.bhphotovideo.com
Exchange rates and prices gathered on 10 September 2004.


Contact Information:
We the undersigned would also like Canon UK to provide direct e-mail addresses to its customers.
I wished to contact Canon directly via e-mail about my concerns but Canon do not list ANY contact e-mail addresses for The UK.
The only method I found was to register at their website to enable me to ask a question. Reluctantly I filled in the online form. However upon completion I read the following statement at the bottom of the page located next to a checkbox:

I agree to receiving marketing information from Canon as set out in the Privacy Policy.

We (the undersigned) don't want to receive any marketing mailings or e-mails from Canon or its friends, but I discovered that you have to agree to this to enable the registration to complete.
Is this procedure of forcing people to receive "junk" or "spam" etc now illegal under recent European anti-spam legislation?
We would like to know why Canon make it so difficult for their customers to contact them and request that this is investigated and amended.

With all of the above in mind we feel that Canon UK treat their customers in an appalling manner.
We as Canon's customers spend millions of pounds every year on Canon products, and we don't expect this kind of service from a company with such a high profile.