Apple: National Assembly’s new draft law unsatisfying
23 Jun
Leading lawmakers in France voted, on Thursday, to dilute a draft law that could oblige Apple Computer to make its iTunes online stores and iPod music players compatible with its rivals’ offerings.
Presently, music bought on Apple iTunes is only compatible with iPods, which critics regard as anti-consumer and anti-competitive.
French lower house, the National Assembly, has voted to force companies, such as Sony and Apple, to deliver an absolute copy-protection technologies to any competitor that wanted to offer compatible online stores and music players.
Apple, which condemned the National Assembly’s proposals being a “state-sponsored piracy”, nonetheless suggested that the draft law could have an effect on its presence in the country.
After the vote, the company stated, “We are awaiting the final result of France’s legislative process, and hope they let the extremely competitive marketplace driven by customer choice decide which music players and online music stores are offered to consumers”.
The bill is created as a regulatory authority that can dictate companies to licence their exclusive file formats to other competitors, except only if the restrictions that they enforce are “additional to, or independent of, those explicitly decided by the copyright holders”.
Lawmakers say that this means Sony and Apple could avoid sharing their ATRAC3 and FairPlay formats, provided that they received permission from the artists whose music are sold through their companies.
Penalties for a range of online piracy offences are also introduced through this new draft law. Up to a maximum of three-year jail term and a €300,000 or $380,000 fine for knowingly advertising or offering a download service for pirated video or music is imposed.
