Apple may not be able to continue shoring up the digital content market after all, according to a Reuters report. France is trying to push through a law that would force California-based Apple
Computer to open its iTunes online music store to other digital media players. Currently, only Apple's line of iPods is able to download content from iTunes, due to Apple's digital rights management,
which restricts competitors' products from communicating with its music store. Under a law that is expected to be voted into the French parliament this week, consumers would be allowed to legally use
software to convert digital content into any format--meaning it would no longer be illegal to crack digital rights management, codes that protect music, films and other content. As one French official
told Reuters, "It will force some proprietary systems to be opened up." The law, since it's applied to the Internet, would make Apple's iTunes store vulnerable to conversions outside of France, and
could force the company to shut down its French site altogether. The law is actually intended to thwart piracy and encourage competition in the online digital music market; it also includes a new set
of defined penalties for content piracy.
Read the whole story at Retuers.com »