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France Forces Apple To Open ITunes To Competition

France has passed a law that could challenge Apple's dominance of the online digital music market, by deeming it unlawful to keep its iTunes music store closed off from competitors' portable music players. French officials claim the law aims to prevent any media player, such as Apple's iTunes or Microsoft's Windows Media Player, from completely cornering the market. This means online music vendors would need to make the digital rights management codes that protect copyrighted material convertible from one format to another. In a statement, French officials said they hope these new clauses will be taken up by other countries, particularly the rest of Europe. Apple said the law would only lead to "state-sponsored piracy" in France, "causing legal music sales to plummet." On the other hand, analysts point out that "the fact it's a closed system has been a reason for Apple's success with the iPod." Less than five percent of Apple's digital music revenue comes from iTunes in France.

Read the whole story at Reuters.com »

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