France's "iPod Bill"
May 26, 2006
An article in today's Washington Post reports that France's legislature is considering a new law that would "force compatibility between digital songs and the different machines that play them." The proposed legislation would mean that companies like Apple, Dell and Sony that make music players would have to share trade secrets with each other that would enable users to play songs on any of the devices.
Not surprisingly, the idea of government-mandated interoperability alarms the manufacturers and software developers that would be affected. An early statement by Apple called the French proposal, "state-sponsored piracy" and some analysts have suggested Apple might pull the iPod from France if the law is enacted.
Tags:
