French Copyright Law Finished - Now What Happens?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060317/wr_nm/media_france_apple_dc' target='_blank'>http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060317/wr_nm/media_france_apple_dc</a><br /><br /></div><i>"French deputies finished drafting a law on Friday that would open up Apple's iTunes online music store to portable music players other than its popular iPods. The new law, now set for a vote on Tuesday, would allow consumers to legally circumvent software that protects copyrighted material -- known as digital rights management (DRM) -- if it is done to convert digital content from one format to another. Government officials said the law was aimed at preventing any single media playing operating system, whether Apple's iTunes or Microsoft's Windows Media Player, from building a dominant position."</i><br /><br />Ok, so one of two things is going to happen here: either Apple will open up iTunes and Fairplay to other non-iPod players, or Apple will pull the iPod from the market in France and cede the <a href="http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html">60 million person</a> market to another player. It's difficult to say which will happen - Steve Jobs doesn't like giving up on any market, but by the same token, the iTunes + iPod power cabal is the most powerful force in Apple's resurgence and I have a hard time believing that Jobs will allow it to be opened and give iTunes customers a choice. What do you think is going to happen here?

[igreen]

O.K. I'm confused. I haven't been able to find minute detail on the proposed legislation, but from what I have read in various articles the Headlines and article contents don't jive. By that I mean nowhere have I read that Apple will have to open up its Fairplay DRM. All I have seen is that the new law would make it legal for consumers to break the DRM. So Apple would not have to do anything. From what I've seen they could operate business as usual, if the consumer wants to break the DRM....have at it. Am I missing something?

[Jason Dunn]

By that I mean nowhere have I read that Apple will have to open up its Fairplay DRM. All I have seen is that the new law would make it legal for consumers to break the DRM. So Apple would not have to do anything.

Hmm. You could be right - I was making the assumption though that Apple, when faced with either allowing people to crack it's software, or providing something for the customer, they'd chose to pull out rather than allow it. Maybe I misunderstood the impact of this law. I guess this begs the question though, does that mean it was illegal to crack FairPlay prior to this law? Does France have an equivalent of the DCMA?

[igreen]

Apparantly this churn is the result of France attempting to incorporate the EU's Copyright Directive into its laws. The Copyright Directive (if I read a summary of it correctly) is the EU's requirements/outline of what each member state must incorporate into its laws. Its appears to be the EUs version/method of implementing DCMA. In fact the DCMA is referenced heavily. I looked at a summary of the directive online and frankly can now say I am even more confused. The directive says its illegal to sell circumvention software contrary to what French politicians have been saying in the press. All I know now is a.) I'm glad I don't live in France and b.) I need to drill a hole in my skull before my head explodes from attempting to understand this topic.

[Jason Dunn]

I need to drill a hole in my skull before my head explodes from attempting to understand this topic.

Well, I appreciate you registering and commenting before your lobotomy! ;-)Welcome to Digital Media Thoughts!

[Felix Torres]

Since the law apparently focuses on iTunes (and not the DRM itself), Apple has a ready out; they can sell WMA music.
(Jobs has said he would do it when appropriate.)

And they can do a real bad job of compatibility and blame it at MS. :twisted:

It works for Real, doesn't it?
Every time they screw up, they blame MS.
Should work just as well for Apple.

Cheap and simple and they keep their walled garden intact...

[Felix Torres]

The law has apparently been amended to explicitly require Apple and Sony to open up their DRM formats to other hardware.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188270,00.html

So its no longer a matter of iTunes...