Lawmakers from France’s ruling conservative party have blocked a move to legalize Internet downloading of movie and music files, after several days of sharp debate in parliament, an AFP report said. The report said the vote by members of the UMP party “signaled a victory for the government as it pushes through a bill that would outlaw the downloading of commercial files as well the breaking of copyright protection on DVDs or CDs.” MPs from the Socialist, Communist, Green and UDF parties walked out in protest ahead of the vote, allowing it to be adopted nearly unanimously. Full article here.
Yesterday, Astrid Wendlandt reported for Reuters that, if passed, the French law “would no longer be illegal to crack digital rights management — the codes that protect music, films and other content — if it is to enable to the conversion from one format to another, said Christian Vanneste, Rapporteur, a senior parliamentarian who helps guide law in France. ‘It will force some proprietary systems to be opened up … You have to be able to download content and play it on any device,’ Vanneste told Reuters in a telephone interview on Monday. Music downloaded from Apple’s iTunes online music store currently can only be played on iPods. The law, if enacted, could prompt Apple to shut its iTunes store in France, some industry observers say, to keep from making songs vulnerable to conversion outside France, too.”
Advertisements:
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related article:
French law would force Apple to open iTunes Music Store to non-iPod devices – March 13, 2006
that was short lived, bit like my piece of camembert
More high pitched whining?
Commie frogs fail. Again.
Formidable. Les francais ont arrivé a la décision parfait.
Trés bien.
Ron, you are a cretin of sideral proportions.
Nice reporting job, there is no “conservative party” in France.
thank goodness for conservatives.
Funny how when someone propose some moronic law in the States people comment how moronic the proponent is, but when they propose a moronic law in France it’s “the French are assholes, morons, cowards, they whine, they mess in what isn’t their business, they eat cheese, they killed Jews, they eat babies at breakfast, Laeticia Casta, Audrey Tautou, Ludivine Sagnier are all hairy whores who never take a bath…
“Nice reporting job, there is no “conservative party” in France”
True…but us wordly Americans (sarcasm) don’t realize that the Liberal Party in Europe is conservative.
(explaination: comes from word Liberation as in from Government.)
Once again big business wins the day… Consumers go fsck yourselves!
Dear Tommy Boy,
The UMP is a conservative party and the use of conservative without a capital “C” denotes tits use in a descriptive sense. The article is accurate and alas you are not.
>”the French are assholes, morons, cowards, they whine, they mess in what >isn’t their business, they eat cheese, they killed Jews, they eat babies at >breakfast, Laeticia Casta, Audrey Tautou, Ludivine Sagnier are all hairy >whores who never take a bath…”
You forget “they only work 3 days a month and spend those 3 days striking.” And smell bad. Guess that’s covered by not taking a bath.
“Formidable. Les francais ont arrivé a la décision parfait.
Trés bien.”
Nice try, but incorrect :
“Formidable. Les Français sont arrivés à la décision parfaite.
Très bien.”
There’s an unfortunate typo after the word denotes “tits” should be “its”. Ouch! My only excuse is that it’s after 3.00 A.M. so a simple but embarrassing typo is a signal that the time has long passed for this Mac user to toddle off to bed. My apologies to anyone who was embarrassed by this…I certainly was.
MDN magic word is “word”. OK MDN I get the message. Goodnight all!!
ZapPow:
You mean they don’t and they aren’t hairy whores who never take a bath?
O mon dieu.
i guess you are one of thoses idiot that have never been anywhere else outside of this Country .
proofreader (from Canada) “Formidable. Les Français sont arrivés à la décision parfaite.
Très bien.”
Bene, ma c’e troppo dificile a pensare velocemente dentro una lingua latina e cambiare a un autro senza errori.
Anyone else want to nitpick ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
No problemo Dave H.
Just remember that, DRM obligations comes not from Apple, but from majors. If majors can’t force distributors like Apple to have DRM, Apple will continue to sell music, but without DRM. What’s the problem ?
Poor France, they think they are a country that matters.
I like my French the same way I like my women . . .
On all fours with their back arched.
The Real World:
Ignorant wretch. You simply HAVE to be an American….
The Real World… now, there’s a misnomer!
As usual the french are weak.
Ron ron>Ron, you are a cretin of sideral proportions.
sideral? you must have gone to school in California. You probably even have a degree. As thick as a post.
Poor Real World, he can’t help commenting on countries that don’t matter…