Apple calls French law 'state-sponsored piracy'

A proposed French law that would force Apple Computer to make the songs it sells through its iTunes music store playable on devices that compete with its own iPod amounts to "state-sponsored piracy," Apple said Wednesday.

France's lower house of parliament passed a law Tuesday that would require digital content providers to share details of their rights management technologies with rivals. iTunes songs are protected by Apple's FairPlay technology and are incompatible with most non-iPod players. The bill, designed to prevent any single music-playing technology--and hence, any one media seller or device maker--from dominating the online market, now moves to France's senate.

"The French implementation of the EU Copyright Directive will result in state-sponsored piracy," Apple said in a statement. "If this happens, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers. iPod sales will likely increase as users freely load their iPods with 'interoperable' music which cannot be adequately protected. Free movies for iPods should not be far behind in what will rapidly become a state-sponsored culture of piracy."

Apple's dominant iPod works with songs purchased on iTunes--the dominant online media store--and with tracks that are not copy protected, but it doesn't play songs that are protected by Sony's or Microsoft's digital rights management software and sold through non-iTunes services.

Apple could choose to withdraw iTunes from the French market rather than change its business, Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster speculated in a research note on Tuesday.

"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."

An Apple spokesman said he could not comment on what action Apple might take if the measure becomes law in France.

CNET News.com's Ina Fried contributed to this report.

[francissawyer]

Once again, the French stand up.

As much as people love to bash the French, they occasionally earn respect. Look at the reality here: Unlike the U.S. government, which abets corporations' (namely Hollywood studios' and record companies') efforts to rip consumers off by denying them the use of media they paid for, the French government is stepping in to protect consumers.<br /><br />This instance may not be the best step, but AT LEAST THEY'RE TRYING. The U.S. government instead attacks its own citizens' rights with corrupt, lobbyist-paid-for affronts like the DMCA.

[kamwmail-cnet1]

Yes, corporations are bad...

you should stop working for these bad people. Down with corporations. Down with jobs. Who needs jobs? The government will pay.<br /><br />Been drinking a little too much vvine have we?<br /><br />Or were you always this retarded?

[Rolndubbs]

Real simple

We have this amazing ability to choose what products to buy. If you don't want to deal with apples DRM, don't buy apple products. If you dont' want to deal with sony's DRM, don't buy from sony. If you don't want MS drm, don't buy from the other music services. People still have the option to go out and buy CD's, then convert the files into Mp3's with no DRM. There are so many choices, so why do we need gov'ts to get involved? I could understand if there were no other options, but come on, there are so many choices in the market.

[FutureGuy]

Yes just like they stood up..

..against the Germans during World War. ha ha sorry I had to say that.

[jsmith2006]

Defending Paris

How many frenchman does it take to defend Paris ?<br /><br />Answer: No one knows, because it has NEVER been done.

[taijitu]

This is about Intellectual Property Rights

I have no beef with your observation of this current administration, but the real issue is "International Interllectual Property Rights". <br /><br />The French government is wrong to attempt to impose this kind of law on the any company, especially when the product is not essential for life, health, and/or security.<br /><br />I would not be as willing to stand against this law if it imposed the same sharing mandates on life saving pharmaceuticals.

[markdoiron]

Be Careful What You Ask For ...

Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. <br /><br />If all music services could play music on all music players (let's assume with acceptable, but compatible DRM, since this law is not about that at all), that might sound like a good thing. However, that now puts the RIAA back in the driver's seat for pricing of online music sales. I'll give Apple credit for standing up to them on the $0.99/song (though I think that's still too high for one song with no media delivery). involved). But, I'll be surprised if the RIAA doesn't speak out in favor of this law (and I expect that's why Apple is drumming the "state-sponsored piracy" song). <br /><br />mark d.

[gggg sssss]

right on

The US govt should never have given in to the DMCA in the first place. The Betamax (?) decision should have continued to apply. Then consumers woudl be teh winners. Industry woudl still compete and do well.

[jsmith2006]

Apple = Corporate GREED

Like the guy in Wall Street said: GREED IS GOOD<br /><br />Screw the consumer!

[Earl Benser]

No....

... just screw the French government.

[OS11]

100% Incorrect!

Apple is the Good Guy, they took the risk to build a "LEGAL" system so everyone wins! Apple should be held up as a great example of innovation and modernization of the Digital world. Without Apple, you'd have 100% piracy. Apple is doing everything right, but the French are uneducated about Digital Copyright, so they are at fault.<br /><br />If you want to use the word "Greed", looke the the SOURCE: The RIAA! NOT Apple!

[microsoft slayer]

You're an IDIOT

Before iTunes, people were pirating music via napster and audiogalaxy. Now that Apple saved the sorry music industry from losing money, they're being attacked by the french idiots!

[microsoft slayer]

You're an IDIOT

Before iTunes, people were pirating music via napster and audiogalaxy. Now that Apple has saved the sorry music industry from losing money, they're being attacked by the french idiots!

[CapitalismNOW]

Apple = HEROS

providing goods and services for all consumers to freely purchase and providing jobs while paying more taxes then all the lefty protestors in the world combined, Apple are heros.

[fan4apple]

Who screws who?

How is making a BETTER product, having better marketing, and getting control of an industry that had NO direction/ambition/vision, greed? Stealing IS stealing, and the French can't do any of the above, so they steal! Apple should pull out of FRANCE and let their consumers suffer with their idiot courts! The French need to conceed that the ONLY products they can truely export are wine and cheese!

[toosday]

Use Microsoft as an example...

As an iPod user (and Mac user), I totally agree with the French <br />this time around. Why? Well, let's put the shoe on someone elses <br />foot, other than Apple's:<br /><br />If, say, Microsoft, decided all of a sudden (hypothetically) to only <br />allow Microsoft Office products to work on Windows computers <br />and not be compatible with anything else, how would everyone <br />react to that? Any document created in Office couldn't be opened <br />or shared with anyone that doesn't use Office. It wouldn't be <br />much different: Microsoft has a vested interest in comptuers taht <br />run Windows as Apple has a vested interest in iPods and iTunes.<br /><br />It'd widen the lead MS Office has over competitors and pretty <br />much make it a monopoly. And no one (certainly not Mac users) <br />would go for that! Sure, one "protects piracy" and the other is <br />just a "business model", but all-in-all, it's still the same; <br />because we all know that the whole "piracy" thing can be worked <br />around extremely easily.<br /><br />Right?

[fan4apple]

WHAT?

You make as much sense as a deaf, blind, mute with an ipod.

[Byronic]

Where is the lock-in?

I'll try to keep this simple.<br /><br />1. Buy song on itunes.<br />2. Burn CD of song.<br />3. Insert CD in computer.<br />4. Set preference to import as MP3<br />5. Click Import.<br />6. Drag to any player, all DRM is gone.<br /><br />Plays for sure is WORSE, it LOCKS you to a specific (and lousy) <br />operating system! All iTunes does is interoperate with the best <br />selling (and some of the most affordable) music players (without <br />doing this little work-around listed above. <br /><br />It's really simple. If other player manufacturers want to use <br />Apple's system (which Apple designed, BTW) they should have to <br />PAY to license the system.<br /><br />You say Apple is not selling? That is baloney, no one is offering <br />any reasonable price, they would expect to get this fantastic <br />iTMS service for a 'playsforsure' price. It don't work that way.<br /><br />You wanna play, you have to pay the going rate.<br /><br />French music fans are the ones who should revolt over this, they <br />are losing what EVERYONE agrees to be the best service, bar <br />none.

[brian g--2008]

rent/burn/rip = quality loss

"fantastic" is your opinion<br />and bologna is spelled bologna

[skeptik]

so temporary.

Understand something: your solution is a loophole which could be closed by Apple at any time. And Apple does indeed have a history of tightening permissions with each new verison of iTunes.<br />This is as flawed as the kids who say I can copy anything I can hear because of the analog hole. Trust me, we're only a couple years away from the analog hole being plugged as well. To many "pirates" or fair-use advocates walk around with blinders on confident that because they can work around something now that the issues don't matter to them... until they wake up one day and find the P2P sites shuttered, their forums removed and their links to workaround software all erased and the website operators jailed.<br />I'd rather have a legislated right to manipulate my media than a loophole any day.

[i_made_this]

It's been a lousy week for Apple allround...

...first, the critical security exploit thing in OSX and now this.<br /><br />Maybe this is the price a software firm might have to pay for having the world's second most popular *closed o/s* after Windows?<br /><br />If I were Steve Jobs, mebbe I'd even think of gettin a new job.<br /><br />In Hollywood? :p

Apple calls French law 'state-sponsored piracy'

Can the people at APPLE answer these questions?<br /><br />When an artist sells a CD of his music, does he allow that CD to only play on let's say a SONY CD player and not play on any other company's CD player? <br /><br />So why does APPLE think they should have the right to limit that same artist's work, that they are selling for him, to only play on APPLE MP3 players?<br /><br />The French government is coreect, unless APPLE wrote, performed, and copyrighted the work it is NOT their place to limit how the general public listens to somebody else's work!

[J.G.]

Dropped on head at birth?

If you aren't brain damaged, you should know that DRM is required <br />by the content providers, not Apple. DRM protects the value of the <br />content by limiting its spread to people who have not purchased it. <br /><br />In addition, but for that brain injury, you would know that other <br />content providers, including Sony, also use DRM.

[taijitu]

Socialism and Stupidity

I have read some of the comments that have been posted about the Frances new legalized piracy law and I have come to a sad conclusion. <br /><br />YOU PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SMOKING CRACK!<br /><br />The American intellectual and entertainment property rights have regularly been subjected to overwhelming assaults not unlike those seen in the opening "Shock and Awe" volleys of the Iraq war. <br /><br />Our respect as owners and creators of technology, art, ideas, and concepts are being stolen from us and ******-out in places like main-street Beijing (indeed, all over China), Mexico City, Hyderabad India, and volumes of other places for fractions of pennies-on-the-dollar. <br /><br />Despite considerable attempts by the respective industry representatives, these piracy violations happen without the slightest consideration for compensating the hard work of those who developed and created the gift in the first place. <br /><br />Now, for some illogical reason - known only to the Socialist dolts of the self-righteous French government ? the French politicians have initiated a law that makes it a crime for ?Company A? to protect its property rights from ?Companies B through Z? ? <br /><br />Ask yourself: ?If you spend your own money creating something that you knew would be a popular but unnecessary benefit to a considerable portion of any populous, wouldn?t you want to be fairly compensated?? <br /><br />If you live in anywhere in the world, except Maybe Tibet, your ?truthful answer would be ?Yes!?<br /><br />This French law is an atrocity. It is another clear example of just how poorly connected the French government is with the rest of the world, and it offers some insight into why, on a Global scale, France is still eons behind most other European countries.

[mercuryrising]

Typical American hypocricy

I have observed one thing. Whenever any American company is in news for bad reasons , most of commentators appear like excellent critics of the action of this company. <br /><br />And when its news about anything related to france, most of them become nationalistic ,jingoistic blaming French culture, food , system and all. Whats the matter ? Do you have a grudge against all countries in world?. Now the dolt here has mentioned India and China too. Why mention them here ? Has all great things in world created only by one nation? Today Rome lies tattered . Learn something from it . Already other nations are catching up on you .<br /><br />Please stop being hypocrite . Any country has ******* right to implement any law in their country . Nobody dictates to another. If you dont want to sell in France , better get the hell out of there.

[Yet Another Mark Johnson]

Apple/RIAA = Staggering Arrogance

It boggles the mind that a law that simply reiterates the basic concept of "fair use" is being equated to piracy. The law IN NO WAY authorizes an individual to "distribute" copies of whatever songs they have purchased, simply to "reformat" them for THEIR OWN use.<br /><br />If I buy the latest Grisham novel and make a photocopy of any portion of it for my own use, I am well within my fair use rights. I am certainly denied the right to keep the original and pass copies along to anyone else, but I can absolutely "reformat" the work for my own use (to make "markup notes" etc.)<br /><br />The French are doing all of us a service by bringing this issue to the forefront. Apple's unbelievably "over the top" irrational and emotional "this is the end of the world as we know it" response only makes them look absurd.<br /><br />The fact that technology has made it easy for Apple/RIAA/Microsoft to foist draconian DRM schemes on the consumer that make it profoundly impractical to exercise your fair use rights doesn't make them disappear. You still have fair use rights no matter how badly some companies would like to wish them away.

[ThreadSurfer]

Not exactly

You make a good point about the book and making photocopies as being fair use. However, that's not in line with this issue of playing back music files using a unique player.<br /><br />For example, you may have a Sony BetaMax player at home. Should any company that sells movies/video be required by law to offer a version on BetaMax? In my opinion, no. But, in effect, that's what France is trying to do here.<br /><br />Should QuickTime movie files be required to somehow play in your VHS player without degradation.<br /><br />For the record, any file purchased at iTunes can already be played on any other mp3 player available today. It just takes a few steps, same as you take when transferring your old VHS movies to new DVD blanks. On that, should the company which furnished your old VHS cassettes, now be required to give you a DVD copy? No again.

[OS11]

Well, you aren't thinking it all the way through...

Your analogy of the Book could be copied for your own use is correct, but when you move into the realm of pure "Digital" media, the era of the 1500's is over. It is now incredibly easy to make a perfect copy of a "Work", in a fraction of a second, and distribute it "Worldwide" in a few seconds. This is what Apple has solved for the benefit of everyone. <br /><br />So for the French to promote Piracy and hinder proper "legal" use of Digital Media is absurd. Maybe it's time for some form of a World "Utility" to be formed to manage a universal DRM, but to stop all the progress Apple has made to make songs "legal", doesn't make any sense no matter what side you are on.

[Jackson Cracker]

No, Apple/MPAA/RIAA are simply trying to save the free world from anarchy

This French proposal would be like allowing a company to make a single version of a particular music CD that you could play on your Panasonic CD player at home, your Sony portable CD player while you're out walking, your Sanyo CD player in the car AND the Toshiba player in your home computer.<br />Or allowing a cable TV company to transmit programming that you could watch not only on a TV made by Philips, but also on one made by Samsung or Mitsubishi or Gateway.<br />Obviously, this would cause the economy to grind to a halt.

[Byronic]

What fair use do you WANT?

The Apple system allows you to do almost anything you could <br />want with the music. You can put it on unlimited ipods. You <br />can burn 10 copies of any playlist. (Add a song, burn 10 more <br />copies). re rip a cd, make an MP3 of it if you want. It won't be <br />QUITE as good a quality as making an MP3 of a CD ROM, but <br />that is 99% because the iTMS is not as good a quality as the CD <br />ROM to begin with, not because of any quality loss through the <br />re-riping. Don't believe me, try it yourself, you are within your <br />rights to do it if you purchased the ACC file from Apple.

[colamix]

Yeah Right !

The only piracy going on here is Apple's skimming fair play. From vinyl records, tapes, CDs to DVDs, consumer entertainment formats have always been hardware interoperable. You're the one pulling a fast one on consumers, Mr. Jobs

[brian g--2008]

rent/burn/rip = quality loss

n/t

[savvos]

An out for Apple

A more ingenious thing for Apple to do would be to offer songs in WMA DRM format in addition to the Fairplay format. That way Apple maintains it's proprietary strangle-hold on iPods and expands its iTunes market onto other mp3 players.

[markdoiron]

But Wouldn't That ...

But wouldn't that still lock the consumer to replacing his broken iPod with an iPod to preserve his music collection? Why shouldn't a consumer be able to say in three years, "I'd rather buy a Creative player because I like it's battery life over the new iPods."?<br /><br />And wouldn't that lock the iPod owner into buying music from iTunes? Again, why shouldn't the consumer be allowed choice? It isn't Apple's contents; it's the content of the copyright holder. <br /><br />mark d.

[microsoft slayer]

French should stick to fine cousine

obviously, they want music to be FREEEEEEEeeeee for EVERYONE ...

[spec1alk]

The Lock-In

No one gets the argument here. Let me put this another way.<br /><br />Apple being legally allowed to have a MONOPOLY over the DRM content on iPods is the same as if Toyota were to build their cars so that you could only fill them with gas from the Toyota dealership.<br /><br />No one on here gets what this law is about. Its not about who has the better system. Its about one company being able to exclusively control the content from the most popular legal music download service and on the most popular media player.<br /><br />The french are saying I should be able to CHOOSE to buy an iPod and then CHOOSE to download music from anywhere, not be locked into the itunes service, and vice-versa. The french(and myself) are scared about one company controlling digital content. Besides, there is a simple solution. Apple can license their FairPlay DRM technology. But we all know how that went with Real Networks.

[markdoiron]

I Get the Argument

I get the argument, R. Mccullough, and agree completely with you. This law isn't anti-DRM (as a discussion elsewhere on CNET implies). It's about proprietary lock-in of content to one (or limited) company's software/hardware. <br /><br />mark d.

[ThreadSurfer]

Toyota, Fries, Apple, & france

Toyota should have every right to develop a product and only offer it at their stores for their vehicles. If Toyota were to develop a new fuel that gives Toyota vehicles a significant mileage advantage, why should they be forced by any state(france) to make their fuel work in other vehicles or for sale at any other gas station? That's ridiculous! The market should be left to decide this matter. In the case of Toyota, maybe sales will slump because folks don't like having to go to the Toyota store for gas... in which case, Toyota would have to offer gas at more stations in order to increases vehicle sales. On the other hand, folks might be satisfied with buying gas at Toyota dealerships only... leaving the few complainers to continue as Toyota customers, or sell their vehicle and buy a Honda.<br /><br />It's as ridiculous as requiring McDonald's to offer it's fries for sale at Burger King. The McDonald's fries formula is protected by patent, and more people eat McDonald's fries than Burger King fries, therefore... people should be given the RIGHT to buy McDonald's fries at Burger King. Ha! That's what France says.<br /><br />In this situation between Apple and France, I think Apple should license it's DRM for other players, only at a huge cost - maybe $100. Then, other players would be able to play Apple DRM'd music, but the players would be just as expensive as the iPod.

[markdoiron]

Why Apple Is Complaining

Here's why I think Apple's complaining: This law will make it possible for a person in France to buy his choice of music player and to buy his music from his choice of service. It does not specifically eliminate DRM. And this is exactly what the ***RIAA*** would like. Remember: They have a lot of reservations about Apple and Apple's monopoly over RIAA property. So, Apple is complaining (increased piracy, etc) in the hopes that the RIAA won't give France the thumbs up. I'm surprised that the RIAA hasn't spoken out already. <br /><br />mark d.

[indrakanti]

Don't waste you energy...

talking sense on this forum Mark. There are lot of people out there that think whatever is best for Apple is best for the counsumer, planet Earth, Solar system and the Universe in its entirety :-). Smart consumers, aren't they?

[kamwmail-cnet1]

Message has been deleted.

[indrakanti]

Consumers saving money is bad. Stop supporting them

Why would they want to save? To support their kids college educations? To have better life? To buy more things by speding less on the same thing? NOPE.<br /><br />Consumers are just greedy. Let them buy DRMed player after DRMed player when switch from music service to music service. In the look out for saving few cents on a song let them spend hundreds of dollers on MP3 players. That will buy a new boat for someone else there. If you have any complaints, go make your own money.

[Fengpost]

What is Apple talking about?

and iPod does not play pirated music now?

[tipper_gore]

wow free publicity

Apple's ad execs are probably saying that right now.

[kamwmail-cnet1]

Corpo

Corporations making money is bad. Why would they need money? To pay for workers? To pay for research? To create jobs and better living conditions (i.e. new drugs, new electronic experiences)?<br /><br />NOPE! Corporations are just greedy. That's it.<br /><br />So STOP supporting corporations. STOP buying things. Make your own iPod or your own car. Don't buy. And definitely don't work for them evil corporations. Just stay home. "Someone" will pay for everything.

[ninah1]

French law is "State-sponsored Piracy"

Apple should follow through and get out of France.

[fan4apple]

ANYONE HERE HATE THE FRENCH?

Besides wine and cheese, is there anything they do well?... oh, antagonize the muslims... worker strikes... surrender to anyone that treatens them... complain about the rest of the world...

[RShea78]

Interesting...

I think it is interesting that the French doesn't have a clue how the idea of how copyrights or contracts work.<br /><br />Such ramifications probably will result in Apple pulling out completely as their hand would be forced to do so under agreements.

[Pascoli]

They do

If I am not mistaken, they invented the notion of copy right, or at least were of the pioneers...