French copyright law could force changes in iTunes copy protections

DamnedIfIknow used our news submit to tell us the government of France
is thinking of loosening restrictions on a proposed digital copyright bill.
This has come about due to an outcry from politicians and consumers
demanding the lightening of the proposed restrictions. A couple things are very
important here in these amendments. One is, the new bill makes a
distinction between those who use peer to peer technologies to download for
profit and those who just add to their own music and movie collections. It's
about time! The other result of these new laws with can be read below - this is
surely to cause quite a stir!

The French bill would be at odds with many CDs and DVDs sold there that contain copy-protection management software, to digitally block efforts to copy them. If the bill becomes law, the copy-protection measures would have to be removed. Under the bill, Apple"s Music Store in France would also have to change its practices: the Journal du Dimanche says the government is looking at ensuring that all music sold on that site can be played on MP3 players other than Apple"s bestselling iPods, which is not currently the case.

If this law passes, it will really shake things up. We
have to wonder what impact this would have on iTunes over there. It would seem
that with the past track record of Apple, they would simply pull out. However,
if these type laws would somehow magically spread...there would come a day that
iTunes would have to open up it's store to all. DRM is bad enough, but there are
simply too many proprietary "solutions" and it it has really become ridiculous.

Even a simpleton can see now that these restrictions and laws were passed
around the world not to thwart piracy so much as to control the consumer, to
create a brand loyalty through these restrictive measures. Apple could let
others use their DRM if they were only concerned with piracy, what they are
concerned with is market share for the iPod. We need for all consumers and
politicians to wake up like the French did and demand that this situation be
remedied. When we buy something it should work in whatever device we wish to
own. Is that so much to ask?

Source: Globe Technology