RSSApple Blasts French Copyright Law
By Ed Oswald | Published March 22, 2006, 11:03 AM
Apple broke a week of silence late Tuesday, attacking a proposed French law that would open up proprietary music services as equivalent to "state-sponsored piracy." However, the company stopped short of suggesting that it would pull out of the French market in order to avoid complying with the new legislation.
The bill passed the lower house of the French legislature on Tuesday by a two-to-one margin, and now heads for the Senate where debate and a vote are expected to occur in May.
In a statement, Apple spokeperson Natalie Kerris said that if the law passes, "legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers." Apple recently sold its one billonth track in the iTunes Music store, and sees some 3 million downloads per day.
However, Kerris' next comments seemed to suggest that the company was preparing to comply with the law, even if it disagreed with it. Many analysts had predicted otherwise, saying the closed format of iTunes and iPod is what have made Apple's digital music venture so successful.
Furthermore, she even suggested Apple might somehow benefit from the law. "iPod sales will likely increase as users freely upload their iPods with 'interoperable' music which cannot be adequately protected," she said.
Microsoft has said it is watching the debate closely and would comply with any ruling in order to help its partners stay in business within the country.
"state-sponsored piracy." ?
Quite the contrary, this is a hardcore copyright directive with few inconsistencies.
Why can't Apple hire professional lobbyists? Why does Apple make such noise which demonstrates that they did not study the law.
"legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers." tres funny.
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HA! (Quaker) HA!
Apple was pwnd!!1
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Why not sell m4a's? Tell me how your average French ipod user is going to say, "Oui! I vill nau take zee m4a and make de zing mp3 voila!"
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It'd be a hoot if Apple simply stopped iTune sales in France.
Let them play croissants on their iPods !
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The Computer Rodent
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The problem with that is France is a part of the EU. The next step is already under way, getting the law that forces Apple to release the specs passed by the entire EU. Apple cant just close itself off from the EU, that would be comercial suicide.
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"Let them play croissants on their iPods !"
what does that even mean ??
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"what does that even mean ??"
it means you don't know your french history.
As Marie Antoinette said over a coffee and croissant, "Pass me my Pomme jeGousse".
[apologies to any french speakers]
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ipod can still play mp3s and m4a which are "not" protected and it isnt difficult to transfer to and froe!
There wasn't any need to open their protected drm content m4p etc since that was their product offering, think, if other companies would be forced to do in other stuff?
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"HA- HAAA"
in yer face Apple ....
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Raise the jolie rouge.
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What's next? Sony/BMG CDS that play only in a SONY brand CD player? Cars than run exclusively on a single brand of gasoline? Ever heard of an old record album that plays only a PIONEER turntable? Me either.
JVC owns the patents on the VHS VCR. They were not the only source of hardware for playing and recording tapes. SONY didn't make every single BETAMAX recorder either; so there was no need for this proposed French law - until now.
The idea that a fascist music service would dictate what players we must use is a new concept indeed. Go France.
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