France assembly passes music bill
France's National Assembly has passed a bill that could force Apple Computer and others to share the details on previousely secret music protection formats.
According to an Associated Press report, France's lower house gave the nod to a bill that would both impose new fines on music pirates and would require more openness among the companies that protect digital content with rights management technologies.
The proposed legislation would require companies to share their copy-protection technology with rivals that are developing competing music services and devices, AP said.
Currently, Apple's iPod works with songs purchased on iTunes, as well as unprotected tracks, but not songs using Sony or Microsoft's digital rights management. Songs bought on iTunes, meanwhile, can be played on PCs and on the iPod, but not on most other digital audio players.
The bill, which could open that up considerably, now must be debated and pass in France's Senate, with the AP reporting that the Senate consideration process will start in May.
Apple has not commented on the bill, though some outsiders have suggested that the company might pull its music products out of France, rather than comply with such regulations.
In a research note Tuesday, Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster said the impact of a pullout on Apple's business would be minimal.
"We believe Apple is more likely to drop out of the French market than open up its FairPlay DRM to allow iTunes to play on competing MP3 players," he wrote. "While this sounds like a drastic move, we believe it would not materially impact business. We estimate that approximately 20 percent of iPod and iTunes sales occur outside of the U.S. The French market alone is likely less than 2 percent of iPod and iTunes business."
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
