“Apple Computer Inc. said on Tuesday a proposed French law that would force Apple to make sure that songs bought on its iTunes music store can work on any portable player would result in ‘state-sponsored piracy,'” Reuters reports. “‘The French implementation of the EU Copyright Directive will result in state-sponsored piracy,’ said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. ‘If this happens, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers.'”
“The new legislation would require that online music retailers provide the digital rights management software that protects copyright material to allow the conversion of music in one format to another,” Reuters reports. “But Apple said the law, which it opposes, would likely actually increase its sales of iPod music players. ‘iPod sales will likely increase as users freely upload their iPods with ‘interoperable’ music which cannot be adequately protected,’ Kerris said. ‘Free movies for iPods should not be far behind.'”
The bill must now go to France’s Senate for a second reading [expected to begin in early May], and a vote, before it becomes law.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Too Hot!” for the heads up.]
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Related article:
French National Assembly approves digital copyright bill; could affect Apple’s FairPlay DRM – March 21, 2006
How can it be piracy when the law just makes DRM more interoperable? Surely it is another step along the road to defeating piracy as it elimnates one of the competitive advantages of piracy – the ability to play on any device.
Those who diss France do not realise that they are the main driver in Europe. This will be Euro wide soon.
YOU ANTI DRM IDIOTS ARE CLUELESS.
The FACT is, before DRM piracy was at an all time high, the music business was getting hurt SUBSTANTIALLY by that, and ARTISTS WERE NOT GETTING PAID. It is stealing, simple and plain, from business people and from artists that work their asses off to bring you music. Really it’s the worst kind of stealing. And has anyone EVER felt restricted by Apple’s DRM? Gimme a break.
DRM is evil. If Apple really was against the DRM, they would announce that its not their decision, but the RIAA’s. Maybe it was, initially. But Apple has tasted the spoils of DRM and there is no way they will drop it now without a fight. Why?
Simple. DRM is vendor lock-in. Plain and simple. Because of Fairplay, if you buy from iTMS, there is only one player that will play the music. The iPod. And on the iPod, there is only one online store that is compatible with it. iTMS. Just imagine if the RIAA came to its senses and dropped their demands for DRM. All of a sudden, I could purchase music from any online store and play it on my iPod. And I could purchase music from any online store and play it on any mp3 player. Apple would be forced to do away with DRM.
It doesn’t matter that Apple’s DRM allows you to make 5 copies of your music. It still forces restrictions on what you can buy. Plain and simple.
Is it not the case that the DRM is only physically added by iTunes at the moment of download, but not before? I think it is. So .. iTunes stops adding DRM in France, perhaps?
Honest guys, we didn’t want to do this but French law made it so we had no other viable choice?
Apple is saying that the absence of DRM will increase their botton line…but will hurt content providers. The are doing an honorable thing by sarcrificing iPod sales to help protect artists.
iTunes style DRM helps generally honest people stay more honest instead of a free for all. It’s just enough to keep the art going.
As an independent artist I love what Apple has done. If you are so upset about DRM, yet want to be legit, then simply buy the DRM version from the iTunes store, then download the ‘free’ version from the “bad” sites and put that on the iPod. That way you can have all the freedom you want with “your” music.
I wonder how long it would be that you stopped paying all together?
I general I don’t like copy protection, but Apple’s DRM policy is very very painless,yet effective.
Dumb ass French.
I don’t want to hear any pissing and moaning from the French when the iTunes store is closed down because of your dumb ass politicians.
You want to blaze a new traill…live with the consequences.
Did you ever try to search out AAC music files on P2P? Did you find many? Did you find any at all?
John the Moron said:
Apple know full well that most songs on iPods are not legal sales. They are hypocrites!
I am glad I closed my iTMS account.
Oh wise one, how do you know this “fact,” let alone that Apple knows it as well? My iPod has over 4000 songs in it, all ripped from CDs I own and bought from the iTMS. In fact, quite a few articles I have read have asserted that the larger amount of music on iPods may well be legitimately owned.
I am willing to believe it could be either way, but unless you have proof, why don’t you, um, shut your piehole or at least deliver a credibility warning.
Complaints about a company’s steps to protect its products always come from those who produce nothing. If anyone who complains about Apple’s extraordinarily loose DRM policies ever created something, took it to market, and then had it stolen they would sing a different tune.
Any company has a right to protect its property – material or intellectual – from those spoiled little souls who see it as their “right” to have anything they want for free…
SCREW APPLE SCREW DRM
so is apple for or against this new law? they say it encourages piracy, but then claim ipod sales will go up. make up your mind, beloved Apple!
I don’t really know what the big deal is. Maybe I’m one of the few folks like this, but I have yet to purchase a track from the iTMS. I grab some of the free tracks they offer each week, but that’s it. I prefer using music in MP3 format ripped at 192kb over AAC. Besides, I had a car stereo in my last car that would play MP3 cd’s, but not AAC. MP3 is simply more interoperable, and since I rip most of my music, I have the ability to determine the bitrate. I find 192kb MP3’s sound *much* better than the typical 128kb, at least over semi-decent computer speakers or through my home stereo. I don’t own an iPod yet, but plan on purchasing one soon. That won’t cause me to start buying tracks from the iTMS, though.
I actually prefer that downloadable music be in straight MP3 format. eMusic does a decent job, though their interface is nowhere near as nice as the iTMS’s and they don’t have as good a selection. But all of their tracks are DRM-free MP3 at a good encoding rate. And they’re not a subscription service- you keep whatever you download while you have a membership, even after you cancel a membership. Why would I want to “rent” my music through a subscription service?
This is where liberals here want America to go… to have these kind of business promoting politics, because as we all know “business is eeville”.
gwm, you can play mp3s on the iPod. no need to search out aac files on p2p.
when will people realize that the iPod played mp3s before the iTunes Music Store even existed!!!
Apple will pull there store until the French kill that proposal or there will be a new country with mass piracy and a big black market. Apple’s DRM was put into play at the request of the music labels before Apple was given the okay to sell the music online. So it Apple doesn’t pull the store the music industry might order Apple to do so. I wouldn’t doubt if the music industry stops all sales of online music in France until the French government pulls that law. This is the calm before the storm and the storm is coming soon.
No Biggee:
According to the latest statistics I read, downloaded music sales accounts for only 6-7% of total music sales. Translate that to iPod users and that means that over 90% of music on iPods is ripped from existing CDs in people’s collections.
As for me, I buy from iTunes occasionally, when the mood strikes. But for the most part my 40GB iPod and my 4GB nano are filled with music from my 8,000+ album collection. And in that respect, I rip my CDs [and vinyl] using either Apple Lossless or – more commonly – AAC at 320kb. Why? Because I want the best possible digital sound quality I can get. With a collection like mine, even the 1TB of storage on my Quad couldn’t handle Apple Lossless encoding, hence AAC set to max.
French bashers:
Corrruption knows no national boundaries when it comes to profits and Iraq. After all like many people here in NYC, when we think of Halliburton we think of corporate greed and corruption on a scale the French can only dream of.
Let’s all ” bleep” the French !!!!