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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS—French lawmakers gave final approval Friday to government-backed legislation that could force Apple Computer Inc. to make its iPod music player and iTunes online store compatible with rivals’ offerings.
Both the Senate and the National Assembly, France’s lower house, voted in favor of the copyright bill, which some analysts said could cause Apple to close iTunes France and pull its market-leading player from the country’s shelves.
Currently, songs bought on iTunes can be played only on iPods, and an iPod can’t play downloads from other stores that rival the extensive iTunes music catalog from major artists and labels - like Sony Corp.’s Connect and Napster.
Apple described the original version of the copyright bill as “state-sponsored piracy” earlier this year, but the company had no immediate comment on Friday’s vote.
In a statement issued after lawmakers hashed out the final compromise text last week, Apple said it hoped the market would be left to decide “which music players and online music stores are offered to consumers.”
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So, do you agree with the French?
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Posted by Nate, Tampa on 07/01 at 12:44 PM
Do I disagree with the French? Why should Apple compromise the integrity of a simply to use product simply to allow other online music vendors the ability to sync up with the iPod. The entire reason the iPod is such a success is the fact that the iTunes interface is completely intuitive. Apple has always been about providing sound software for their hardware. Supporting various online music vendors wouln’t provide the kind of usabiliy Apple is used to providing. After all, if you use online vendors like Napster or Sony’s connect why can’t you simply burn your songs to a CD and then import them into iTunes...How hard is that?