French bite Apple; Apple bitter-sweet

Yesterday, the French lower Parliament voted to force all music downloads in the country to be cross-compatible between different services and devices.

Today Apple responded angrily, calling the proposed law “state-sponsored piracy”.

However, they also bullishly suggested that sales of iPods - Apple’s key music playing hardware - would increase, as other people would likely make the device the choice of preference - even for illegal file playing.

The whole issue of contention in the French law is focused on Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems. These prevent different file formats from being played on unauthorised devices and copied.

For example, the Apple iTunes music download service is tailored to Apple music players such as the iPod. However, these music downloads cannot currently be played on other devices.

While the French move is certainly a bold one, it can only mean a fairer playing field between different download services.

Apple may also be right that they could see sales of iPods increase. After all, just as Apple’s DRM technology prevents their music being copied, it also prevents non-Apple users from being able to access their services.