It’s been a while since we had an update on France’s DRM legislation. We reported a couple weeks ago that the French senate, apparently cowed by the threat of Apple withdrawing the iTunes Music Store from France, had weakened the proposed bill. Now, those reduced measures have been approved by the senate.
While the principle of DRM interoperability remains, that’s all it is: a principle. A new regulatory authority has been created that will have look over all requests for details on other companies’ DRM systems. Companies are allowed to refuse such requests if they believe it will weaken their DRM, a time-honored fallacy called “security through obscurity.”
Another loophole will allow the music distributors to refuse to release their DRM details, as long as the restrictions in place are approved by the authors or copyright holders of the music. So, all Apple really has to do is find a way to put that clause in their contracts with record labels and musicians, and really they’re all set.
So, it appears the threat of “state-sponsored piracy” has been averted. I am totally relieved. Man, can you imagine the ability to play the music you’ve legitimately bought on any device you own? Anarchy.
