After all that fuss, France bends on their DRM law?
By Paul Miller 
posted May 2nd 2006 7:01AM
posted May 2nd 2006 7:01AM
After a month or so of heated debate, including France's Trade
Minister telling Apple: "I don't want the
crap," France's
DRM-killa legislation has lost most of its teeth in committee, after being passed by the National
Assembly. The new draft of the legislation switches out phrases like "copy in an open standard" for
"protected copy," puts restrictions on getting access to information needed for interoperability, and says
that DRM publishers don't have to publish source code if they can prove it harms that DRM's security. It sounds
basically like a whole bunch of wins for team Apple, a lot of lost ground for Mr. "I don't want the crap,"
and a possible overall loss for consumer rights in France. Turns out the bill has been hijacked by Universal/Vivendi
and they're having their way with it, but nothing has been passed into law yet, so we'll just have to wait and see how
this sorts out.[Via Ars Technica]
Possible overall loss for consumer rights? If one of those rights is an environment where companies can feel free to create innovative products and be confident they'll be compensated for their effort, I'd say there no loss there. Sounds like someone in France saw the light.
"a lot of lost ground for Mr. "I don't want the crap""
That's *Ms. "I don't want the crap".
Or the payoff finally hit their Swiss bank account. ;)
Possible overall loss for consumer rights?
---
Naw, or they'd be nagging the RIAA..
The right to steal.. and all that.. *ahem
Who do you think came up with DRM? Oh yeah, the rights holders..
Holy Crap! France went limp on pending legislation??
Man, that never happens!
It happened in WW2 and it'll happen again. The French always wuss out out critical moments like this - they could have made the world of DRM a friendlier place, but instead they decided to pass a bill allowing more flavoursof snails...
Apple > France
This is a major loss for consumers, and a shame that when someone finally had the courage to stand up, they have cowered over so easily. I’m not even going to go into how it shows that big business is controlling government, and not vice-versa.
To say the least you apple fanboys are now the lowest of all society. Your willing to lose a basic freedom, a right you are entitled if buying offline, and basically be screwed onto one system for life just because its apple. WOW that is bad. Don’t get me wrong, I know that its not only apple that does this drm on download music, but just like we see in the first comment, it seems you apple fans, are willing to give up a right you should be entitled to, and seem so fantastically pleased.
Infact this whole thing is crazy.
M$ is said to be monopolising the music software business, when they gave you a completely free software to use when you get your computer to whatch films and music. They don’t charge you nor force you into to use this system for the rest of your life. They still allow you to go, buy or download any other software you want, and you can still uninstall the thing if it bothers you that much. However they were given a £1billion fine.
However apple, is making it that once you buy music from their online store, you will ONLY be able to play music on their software and their music player. They are making it that the drm forces you onto their player only. They are unwilling to license their fairplay (not sure of name) scheme to other companies, making it clear their only reason for this is so they can keep their monopoly. They have continuously put in new security measures to stop schemes like JHYMN, which are now useless. Funny, because jhymn whole goal was buying music FROM itunes and simply making it work on other players, other than iPod. As well as that it locks you onto apple forever, just imagine you can never do anything with tracks just cause you bought from itunes………. You still bought the music, and paid for it, but that wasn’t good enough for apple cause it means they don’t buy their players. SO to me if that’s worth a billion pound fine well this……………..
Please don’t start this whole burn to cd and re rip thing, its wasteful of non cd-rw, its also has the tracks quality worse than it already is. Besides, it’s unfair, and once again unnecessary, because ive already paid for the music
This is why I can’t wait for the ipod craze to wear off, because we all know people aint buying ipods for its features, lol, lets not start their………….
Once it starts to fall down and someone else makes a player that has the style that competes with apple, well see the harsh back raw against apples DRM, and hopefully jhym will be up and running again.
But seriously apple fanboys, you can love your company as much as you want, but please don’t sacrifice basic rights, just cause its apple, remember your still a consumer and don’t think that because 2day itunes seems great don’t mean 2moro it will. Besides of all the things ive seen, I can’t believe that enlightened engadget readers, who know all about technology and where its leading, would be all for DRM, because let me say this, once you say its okay here…companies will say it’s a success and consumers don’t mind, and lets put it on EVRYTHING. Be wise and rebel when DRM is not at the stage of complete control, because before you know it the stuff of Sony’s rootkit will be normal.
Until DRM is at least an acceptable stage, (only restricts the Amount of computers, or even music players you share the music with) ill keep my torrents and my file sharing thank you.
SHOCKER; the French government bowing to outside pressure? You don't say!
It's not like it's the first time France has given up on something. :)
"Your willing to lose a basic freedom, a right you are entitled if buying offline, and basically be screwed onto one system for life just because its apple"
That's total bullshit. If I want to keep my right to own and manipulate my music any way I see fit, I'll buy the CD. I _choose_ to buy from the iTMS because it's convenient to me. Am I losing a "right"? WHatever, I'll let you have that one. But I'm doing it with my eyes wide open. Nobody's forcing me into using iTMS or even buying an iPod just as nobody's forcing French consumers to do the same. It has nothing to do with being a 'fanboy'. It has everything to do with a company creating a product and service that neatly fits into my lifestyle. This is a marketplace where the consumer has overwhelmingly chosen the Apple product, DRM and all. Nobody really cares about it except a small, elite, self-righteous group of cry babies who hate that the real world operates on rules.
The French law was flawed and would have undermined the entire concept of intellectual property worldwide. It should have died died.
Take your religion elsewhere. Who needs it...?
"To say the least you apple fanboys are now the lowest of all society."
Nope. We rank above child molestors. And the French. So we are at least third-to-lowest. Your panties are all up in a wad.
"Am I losing a "right"? WHatever, I'll let you have that one. But I'm doing it with my eyes wide open. It has everything to do with a company creating a product and service that neatly fits into my lifestyle."
Losing a right fits into your lifestyle? Sounds like communist China or Cuba to me. brian is a commie and proud of it!
"Nope. We rank above child molestors. And the French. So we are at least third-to-lowest. Your panties are all up in a wad."
Chris is proud to be in the same category as the French and child molestors. Pretty sad. Do you listen to your iPod while 'playing' with a child and watching French movies? perv!
Good for the French people and Appple. I hope that this kind of problem does not arise anymore. Ultimately it is the users who have to suffer. HOwever, I also wish that the users get more freedom.
Ironically enough, no-comm(i)ents, what wiley is endorsing -- government control over business -- is very much a tenent of Communism. What others have endorsed, letting Apple run their business as they choose, is the embodiment of Capitalism.
The bottom line is, when you make a purchase from iTMS you are purchasing software. This software can be played on an iPod or on a computer with iTunes -- this is all up stated up front in the license agreement. Don't like it? Take your wallet elsewhere. Screaming "monopoly monopoly" won't help your case any more than Chicken Little screaming "The sky is falling!" There are plenty of other choices out there to purchase digital music -- you can even walk into a store and purchase music on a little silver disc. I think they used to be called "CDs."
This, in short, is how capitalism works. Economics 101 - a product will be successful if it fits the need of the market. So, rather than ranting and raving about your imaginary right to dictate Apple's business decisions, take your dollars elsewhere and support a digital music service that better suits your needs, as it is clear that iTMS does not.
Or, better yet, buy a controlling share of Apple stock and make the change yourself.
As far as the French go, I can't really endorse their Socialist politics, but don't go knocking French film. Without Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Samourai" you wouldn't have John Woo's "The Killer." Godard, Truffaut, Melville, Malle, Renoir -- I'd much rather see something directed by one of them than the crap that is being turned out by Hollywood today.
The sad thing is that the wording of the issue is all wrong.
This should be called: France forces RIAA to sell unencrypted music.
That's closer to the truth. This isn't just an iTunes issue, it's a Yahoo music store, Microsoft Plays for Sure, etc issue too.
Of course people in general like the iPod (I'm an Archos user myself) so they make a much better target.
This would really change the Real/Yahoo/Napster listen to all you want for a monthly charge since that music should also be able to copied. (unless I missed something in the articles).
that would be pretty cool..
What "rights" are you talking about? Last time I checked there are only 27 guaranteed rights given to us by the constitution. And none of these had anything to do with downloading music.
If you dont like fairplay or playforsure then dont download. When you sign up with these services you openly enter a contract knowing there are limits imposed on what you can do with this media you are downloading. If you dont like this just go and buy the CD and rip it yourself. You now have an original and you can do whatever you want with it.
What about macrovision? This prevents you from copying video tapes and DVD to videotapes. What about copy protection on games? For that matter look at video games in general. Lets say you buy Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and you choose to buy it for XBox. Does this give you the right to have the PC version too? NO, and I dont see people complaining about this. Plus there is copy protection that will keep you from copying the disc it comes on even as a backup, yet there does not seem to be the whole out war waged against the creator of this product.
I have never bought from the Apple Music Store and probably never will. As a consumer you have the ability to do the most damaging thing to a seller. Dont buy their product.
I doubt this issue would have been of much intrest to anyone (read Americans) if it was not for the fact that it is taking place in France. This whole issue has been more about Franco-phobia than about more substantial issues, namely consumer, artist and company rights and wrongs within a digital ecosystem.
This issue should have started off a far more intresting deabte but instead, as by the comments on this site and many others, resulted in name calling. :(
#14 no-comm(i)ents:
English is not your first language is it?
#18 - Right on! No one is being forced to purchase from iTMS. Vote with your wallet.
How do you figure that minus_273? Were there any spelling or grammatical errors? American is my first language by the way, you dirty commie. Also, you might want to add the proper punctuation to your sentence.
This place is full of Francophobic commies that love the iPod! Hail Steve Jobs! Sieg Steve Jobs!
maybe you meant 'tenet of communism'. Whatever the gov here decides, i don't really care. I'm happy having 18mbit dsl for less than what i pay for 5mbit 'ultra' back in canada. Oh yeah, no traffic shaping last time i checked. I could care less about DRM when companies in north america are raping us for bandwidth/speed, and still sending us warnings about our not so legal torrent downloads. But i guess i'm a bad boy who will never buy anything from iTunes.
Borg, did you just poke fun at a typo and then procede to post a message consistently lacking proper capitalization of "I"? I'm not quite sure what your DSL connection has to do with anything being discussed.
For what it's worth: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tenent
This is like... this is like rain, on your wedding day. It's a free ride when you've already paid. It's the good advice, that you just won't take. It's a traffic jam when you're already late. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?
#25 - Since this is computer, maybe #24 meant "telnet of communisim"?
Steve Jobs is having a great week. First, he doesn't backdown to the 4 big record labels threatening to pull from ITMS if he doesn't allow for variable pricing, and now he puts France in it's rightful place.
i meant my dsl connection in France. I am trying to support francophilia, for what its worth. A lot of people like to shit on the crazy french, and the crazy french government. As someone who lives here, I feel that comparing consumer rights of internet users and music downloaders in France is somewhat relevant. Now if my bandwidth was being capped, and i was being threatened by the french authorities for downloading the latest alanis remixes (which are verrry popular here, i assure you...more than in her bonny homeland, Canada), and on top of that i was pushed in to buying my music from some company shoving drm down my throat, i would be a bit pissed. Anyone else in France?
Sorry about the 'tenent' thing... its the english teacher in me acting out. 'Tenent' is ok as long as it means 'tenet'!
One other thing...nothing to do with trying to win the hearts of french haters:
I say that I don't care, because i feel free to download what I please, and that many others in France may feel the same way - thus avoiding anything to do with drm and itunes altogether. A lot of young people do seem to download music and pay for it here, and they do so using their phones. Oh, I do love hearing the latest hot RnB track blasted through a 1cm speaker. Only 2 euros plus data cost. 3 euros a pop? I think Orange and France Telecom may be on to something.
I just wouldn't be surprised if this could be more of a victory for Orange, Fnac (a major superstore), and Virgin megastore than for Apple. I mean, what french kid doesn't love their iPod? Well, they love their precious cell phone more especially since you can load it with 3 euro songs. Maybe by backing down from the earlier proposed law it will make things easier for the french companies.
Next, the French are going to require that book publishers include CD-ROMs of fully searchable text with each hardback book sold. I mean, after all, I damn well have a right to do whatever I want with the text of the book I buy, and the book publishers have a duty to make it as easy as possible for me to do so.
If the market wants less-than-CD-quality audio files for CD prices, and with far more restictions than the bog-standard CD (not to mention missing artwork, lyrics, etc), let them have it.
Unless there's a change of law to outlaw fair use and competition, I don't see the problem.
Nobody is forcing anyone to buy from Apple (or the major labels). Don't like it? You have some alternatives.
30:
naw, people here actually read... a lot. mind you, a lot is complete drivel. the variety of published works in france is incredible. i suppose they will publish just about anything. i have a student who is 16 and she already has two novels published - one from when she was 14. yes, printed, not electronic text. its very much a paper oriented culture.
don't you think this electronic text thing is more likely in the united states? and pushed by the publishers themselves in an effort to sell their wares? it has happened already, but not for the same reasons. why waste money printing books when you can just sell the text? not happening here at the same pace.
You're talking about one of the most wishy-washy governments in the industrialized world. No surprise here.
I agree with Wiley here. The irony is that Apple gets a free pass when it comes to leveraging proprietary technology, but M$ gets fined. I've listened to the arrogant, elitist tripe from Apple for years, making false claims about how they the created the worlds first music video play, or the worlds first personal supercomputer. Everything they "claim" is false or misleading (sounds like the Bush administration doesn't it?).
Ironic too that they now have intel-based Macs that they claim are 5x faster than their G4's and are the "fastest Macs ever", all after years of bashing Intel processors! Hey Apple fans... connect the dots! If Intel is faster NOW, then Apple was lying THEN, and continues to lie. But I guess this is probably too much a religious matter for you to "see" that... don't they call that cognitive dissonance?
As with not allowing iTunes to be played on any other portable music device, consider their new Intel-Macs- which can now run Windows. They are again restricting MacOS to run only on their hardware, when in fact, it can run on ANY Intel platform. But does anyone take Apple to court for that restriction? lol. Apple and their fanatically irrational fans make me want to vomit.