France wants a piece of Apple

FranceHave you ever been in to those days when it seems the whole world has turned it’s back on you?  Like every little thing you do sucks, and the only words you can tell yourself are “things can’t possibly get any worse”, then it does. Apparently, Apple is having, not one, but a lot of those days.

After being sued for causing deafness, being coerced to open their DRM, and being sued for being named Apple, the company that brought consumers the iPod is now on the verge of being forced to make the songs sold at Apple’s iTunes Music Store playable on other formats.

This month, French lawmakers have passed a bill calling for major changes in Apple’s digital music offerings. The French bill calls for Apple and other companies to offer digital music in formats that play on all digital music devices, including those by main competition Sony and Samsung.
By May, the Senate will get hold of the said bill. There are strong speculations that the law will pass the scrutiny. Paul Rechter, a spokesman for the French Minister of Culture and Communications said that “the probabilities are very strong”.

Apparently, France has blazed a trail as other European Unions are now considering to apply the same legislation.  Even the Danish Minister of Culture, Brian Mikkelsen, just recenlty announced that he plans to introduce similar law by next year to require digital music providers to offer what the industry calls “interoperable” music. According to Toby Lewis, an analyst at consultant MusicAlly in London, “there’s a sense that if one country passes a law, the others pay attention. If the French bill passes, it will be entertained in the United Kingdom.”

Apple has earlier turned down pleadings from other competitors to let them sell devices that could play copy-protected songs. It prides itself on controlling everything from hardware to software. In a statement, Apple names the bill as a “state-sponsored piracy” warning that if the French bill passes,”legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers.”
Maybe now things can’t get any worse for them, but then again, maybe it will.

FranceHave you ever been in to those days when it seems the whole world has turned it’s back on you?  Like every little thing you do sucks, and the only words you can tell yourself are “things can’t possibly get any worse”, then it does. Apparently, Apple is having, not one, but a lot of those days.

After being sued for causing deafness, being coerced to open their DRM, and being sued for being named Apple, the company that brought consumers the iPod is now on the verge of being forced to make the songs sold at Apple’s iTunes Music Store playable on other formats.

This month, French lawmakers have passed a bill calling for major changes in Apple’s digital music offerings. The French bill calls for Apple and other companies to offer digital music in formats that play on all digital music devices, including those by main competition Sony and Samsung.
By May, the Senate will get hold of the said bill. There are strong speculations that the law will pass the scrutiny. Paul Rechter, a spokesman for the French Minister of Culture and Communications said that “the probabilities are very strong”.

Apparently, France has blazed a trail as other European Unions are now considering to apply the same legislation.  Even the Danish Minister of Culture, Brian Mikkelsen, just recenlty announced that he plans to introduce similar law by next year to require digital music providers to offer what the industry calls “interoperable” music. According to Toby Lewis, an analyst at consultant MusicAlly in London, “there’s a sense that if one country passes a law, the others pay attention. If the French bill passes, it will be entertained in the United Kingdom.”

Apple has earlier turned down pleadings from other competitors to let them sell devices that could play copy-protected songs. It prides itself on controlling everything from hardware to software. In a statement, Apple names the bill as a “state-sponsored piracy” warning that if the French bill passes,”legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers.”
Maybe now things can’t get any worse for them, but then again, maybe it will.

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