IpodLaw
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French iTunes law now, um, law; Apple takes stand against Scandis
Last we heard, the France's Constitutional Court had approved the iTunes law -- altered, mixed up a bit, but still generally intact -- for the final signature by President Jacques Chirac. The President, of course, has now signed the bill, which among other things now effectively mandates a regulatory committee to oversee DRM issues in the country when formed this fall. According to USA Today, Apple appears to have fallen silent on France for now, but they certainly weren't entirely reserved on one of the other FairPlay-challenging motions in the region. In a 50-page statement released to the public by Norway's consumer agency, Apple appeared rather vocal with regard to the Scandi iPod regulations and laws currently being erected. Their take? You guessed it. Apple was described as "defiant," and apparently appeased few of the demands made by the consumer ombudsmen attempting to bring order to the situation, only causing further frustration and vexation for consumer advocates and, well, consumers. In a nutshell, Apple expressed their disinterest in changing their business model to accommodate Scandinavian consumers' demands; if you found anything in this post at all surprising, you probably haven't been reading long or paying much attention, but if there's any one thing that's clear, it's that things are going to get much harder for Apple Europe before they get any easier.Read - iPod law now lawRead - Apple defends selves against Scandinavian consumer groups
The DRM hits the fan: French iPod law challenges open source
By all accounts we saw the French iPod law pass late last month, but it would appear it was still yet to undergo further revisions and last minute addendums before hitting the executive branch. Those additions to the law were approved by France's Constitutional Court late yesterday, providing for some interesting loopholes. Apparently the crux is still intact, as Apple's FairPlay could be pried open by its competitors, however, under the law a newly appointed French regulatory authority would keep watch over the process in both directions, providing "protection" for companies developing DRM technology (like Apple) by preventing open-source derivatives from existing in the marketplace. In other words, while Apple is legally mandated to open up its DRM to, say, Napster, any open-source FairPlay DRM projects could find their creators in the slammer for up to three years, and fined up to $375,000. Sure, it's still at heart pro consumer -- they don't want open source giving away the DRM shop -- but what happens to the open source DVD players already around, and other open source fair use software projects? Are French anti-DRM open source freedom fighters about to get locked up in a strange turn of events because of this law? In addition to this, fair use statues are also being molded by the law; apparently DRM may now be used to enforce certain aspects of fair use in home media, like creating x or y amount of backup copies of your media. However, there is a bright side: President Chirac has still yet to sign the law into existence, and France's Socialist Party is supposedly trying to push this into evaluation to determine whether it's even constitutional. Sorry kids, we're not through with this biz yet.
French iPod law prepares for vote
It would appear that the watering down and corporate-sponsored evisceration of the French iPod law has ceased, as today the French legislation cemented the final wording of the law, which is to be put before the French Senate and National Assembly in a vote without debate. It sounds as though the bill has attracted some chaff along the way and lost some weight around its DRM waistline, so what the latest down version will actually mean for Apple and French consumers if passed is a little unclear -- but what is remarkably apparent is Cupertino's steady and vehement opposition to the bill, or any that would imply FairPlay be gutted itself.
