“The French take pride in their revolutions, which are usually hard to miss — mass uprisings, heads rolling and such. So, with the scent of tear gas in the air this past month from the giant protests against a youth labor law, it was easy to overlook the French National Assembly’s approval of a bill that would require Apple Computer to crack open the software codes of its iTunes music store and let the files work on players other than the iPod,” Austan Goolsbee writes for The New York Times. “While seemingly minor, the move is actually rather startling and has left many experts wondering (as ever): What has possessed the French?”
“In their fervor to free listeners from the shackles of their iPods, French politicians have abandoned one of the guiding principles of antitrust economics: penalize companies that harm consumers, not the ones that succeed by building better products,” Goolsbee writes. “Antitrust authorities normally follow well-established procedures when considering such moves. They weigh the loss to consumers of not being able to play iTunes songs on other players against the damage that forcing iTunes to open might have on innovation. France’s own Competition Council did a similar analysis in 2004 and ruled that Apple’s refusal to share the iTunes codes did not harm consumers. The legislature paid no mind to such analysis and seems not to have considered innovation at all. Therein lies the danger.”
“iTunes keeps getting better. Apple has added video capability, celebrity play lists, exclusive music, the ability to convert home movies into iPod format, and many other features — all free,” Goolsbee writes. “If the French gave away the codes, Apple would lose much of its rationale for improving iTunes. Right now, after the royalty payment to the label (around 65 cents) and the processing fee to the credit card company (as high as 23 cents), not to mention other costs, Apple’s margin on 99-cent music is thin. Yet it continues to add free features to iTunes because it helps sell iPods. Opening the codes threatens that link. Apple would need to pay for iTunes features with profits from iTunes itself. Prices would rise. Innovation would slow.”
“Usually, rich countries don’t meddle with others’ intellectual property because they fear retaliation. So why don’t the French fear retaliation now? One reason may be that they have concluded France will never really compete. If the Internet will always have an American accent, why not go after it? Sometimes, the red flag of revolution is surprisingly hard to distinguish from the white flag of surrender,” Goolsbee writes. “The fate of France’s budding intellectual property revolution now rests with the French Senate, which will decide in the coming days whether to proceed. Before declaring pre-emptive war on iTunes, however, perhaps the French would do best to remember a lesson from 1789. Sometimes the very people calling for revolution are the ones who end up losing their heads.”
Full article with much more and highly recommended here.
Advertisements:
• Get the new iMac with Intel Core Duo for as low as $31 A MONTH with Free shipping!
• Get the MacBook Pro with Intel Core Duo for as low as $47 A MONTH with Free Shipping!
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• 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.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
Related articles:
French Trade Minister: Apple’s iTunes must play fair in French music market – April 14, 2006
JP Morgan: French DRM law will have limited impact on Apple Computer – March 28, 2006
Dvorak: What the French got right with proposed DRM law – March 28, 2006
Will Apple’s Steve Jobs bid France adieu? – March 22, 2006
Wired’s Kahney: Proposed French copyright protection law a good thing for consumers in the long run – March 22, 2006
Apple calls proposed French DRM law ‘state-sponsored piracy,’ predicts iPod sales increase – March 21, 2006
French National Assembly approves digital copyright bill; could affect Apple’s FairPlay DRM – March 21, 2006
Cry “me” a RIVER France.
If France is pissed the Internet – invented by the USA – has an “American Accent” then why not take the very same technology (hey, innovation counts for nothing in France anyway) and make your OWN French internet? Get other countries to adopt it. Have a blast.
But don’t go around proclaiming that anti-trust laws apply to iTunes just because only Motorola has been able to secure a license agreement with Apple to play iTunes.
The French SUCK.
“France?– oh.. that museum country..”
Wow, the intelligence level here is frightening.
I’m ashamed to be a Mac fan around here.
Pathetic.
To hell with a bunch of arrogant frogs. Let them eat pate’ — without music from their iPods.
Our own government comes up with plenty of stupid ideas.
If you offer a real insight, please don’t waste our time.
The INTERNET was NOT an American Invention.
That should have been:
If you can’t offer a real insight, please don’t waste our time.
Hopefully this will fall through.
“Sometimes the very people calling for revolution are the ones who end up losing their heads.”
Smart fellow, that Austan Goolsbee. I wish had gotten that advice.
RELEASE…. cough… wait, where? Never mind. Bring them home.
Hey Is this Kindergarten?
Are you French?
If you don’t like MDN try this:
http://www.geocities.com/lmtncom/
Never Surrender!
The way to end this once and for all is to just close the french itunes music store. The french goverment will back down. Always have, always will.
Gorufo… if it’s not an american invention, then who invented it?
i agree with “is this kindergarten”. it’s ridiculous that, because france’s GOVERNMENT is making a bad decision on this whole thing, that FRANCE sucks as a result. how would you armchair patriots like it if some french or russian or arabic person declared that USA sucks just because it disagrees with some of the bad moves OUR government makes? you’d be offended.
imagine it. the ignorant and short-sighted in other countries are sitting there, saying things like “americans are dumb, gun-toting, burger-eating, coke-sniffing schoolyard bullies”. and why? because some people in our government have those attributes.
judging an entire nation based on its government is about the most ignorant thing a person can do. i’m not going to go as far as to say i’m ashamed to be a mac user, because being a mac user and sharing the same forum as ignorant people are two different things. however, it amazes me that anyone – mac, pc, linux or commodore 64 user, can be so narrow-minded. you should be ashamed of yourselves.
anyhow, back on topic. the french GOVERNMENT is making a mistake doing this. they very well may ruin the whole itunes concept if they somehow get their way. i don’t use itms simply because i haven’t really wanted to buy any new music recently – but i can see why it’s as successful as it is, and i hope apple prevails on this one.
MW: can. as in, CAN IT you fzcking biggots.
OK, please someone explain this to me. If Apple refuses to open fairplay to France and does not allow french citizens to download iTunes songs. How will this be enforced by France? Do all email address have a country code? Can french citizens go to an adjoining country to download songs?
It seems to me to be all but impossible to enforce.
Ah.. hate the French for whatever, but at least they’re not the ones acting like children on this board.
“americans are dumb, gun-toting, burger-eating, coke-sniffing schoolyard bullies”
Man, oh man! You just described me exactly. Wow! Have we met?
“The INTERNET was NOT an American Invention.”
actually, it was.
The Internet is built on what was DARPANet. This network was developed and funded by the US Military.
magic word: Together… can’t we all play together?
What I want to know is..
..Whatever possessed the French to help the American colonies gain their independence?
…whatever possessed the French to give the Americans the Statue of Liberty?
Yes, those silly french.
I’d like to know the background of this bill or law. Politcians are usually not in it for the good of the people, they’re trying to increase their bank account, read contributors and lobbyists. So, if Apple’s closed system is in no way harming the French consumer then you have to look at the people holding the purse strings.
Matt, calling people “fzcking biggots” is a great way to demonstrate your enlightened French thinking. We are fortunate to have such tolerant, insightful comments like yours.
The French have been making socialist, elist, idotic policies like this for hundreds of years. It’s not just their governemnt, it’s the culture.
french kiss, french fries, french quarter. Either disease spreading, or fattening, or under water. ’nuff said.
To help clarify…France doesn’t suck because of this court decision…France sucks and this court decision is just one more reason why.
France has a long history of backing down from agressors, getting into trouble and calling for assistance from other countries, and then not offering assistance when the same countries come asking for France’s help.
France also tried opertunistically to avoid helping the US in the Iraq war, then wanted to get billions of dollars in US tax dollar paid contracts to rebuild Iraq – and complained mightily when the US wanted to allow the contracts to go to countries that supported the war.
“France has a long history of backing down from agressors, getting into trouble and calling for assistance from other countries, and then not offering assistance when the same countries come asking for France’s help.”
Does the American Revolution ring a bell?
No? Not even remotely? Try Wikipedia.
matt,
thankyou for the refreshing note of sanity and, like you, can’t understand what these people are doing on a Mac site.
They should be using Dells.
The xenophobia on this thread is distasteful to say the least.