France Approves iTunes Rights Law

The French government has passed a law requiring that any digital song can be played on any player, regardless of its format or source. “The final compromise asserts that companies should share the required technical data with any rival that wants to offer compatible music players and online stores, but it toned down many of the tougher measures backed by lower-house lawmakers early on.” It’s not directly targeted at Apple, but the iTunes/iPod combo is the user of this restricted system and the reason why the bill was proposed in the first place. Last-minute changes to the regulations mean that Apple (or anyone else) can still sell music restricted to its own players as long as artists sign deals with the distributor which enable them to do that. Apple still isn’t pleased, and has been hinting it may leave the French market rather than accede to the demands.
In general, I can’t see this law leading anywhere other than open standards for digital rights management in portable music. It would be a legal requirement for DRM technologies to talk with one another, like the OMA system attempted to do before it was derailed over a dispute about how much should be paid in patent royalties. I haven’t read the bill, but I assume it’s general, which means that people in France should be able to buy songs for their mobiles from iTunes, as well as from the stores of competing carriers. Imagine if Sprint customes could by songs from the Verizon store, which company would be happy? Anyway, I haven’t read the law but I’m pretty sure it will have effects beyond those on Apple.

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