Remember that iPod law that the French National Assembly passed some time ago? Well, their Constitutional Council has struck down parts of it. Says the IHT:
Apple's lawyers might want to drink a glass of French Champagne today, but not a whole bottle,” said Dominique Ménard, a partner at the Lovells law firm and a specialist in intellectual property. “The Constitutional Council has highlighted fundamental protections for intellectual property in such a way as to put iTunes a little further from risk of the French law.”
Released late Thursday, the council's 12-page legal finding made frequent reference to the 1789 Declaration on Human Rights and concluded that the iPod law violated the constitutional protections of property.
In particular, the council eliminated reduced fines for file sharing and said companies could not be forced, without compensation, to make music sold online compatible with any music device.
The law, which had been approved by the French Senate and National Assembly last month, was brought for review by the council following the demand of more than 100 members of the National Assembly. The council's review of whether the law fits within the French Constitution's framework is one of the final steps before a law is promulgated. Now it could take effect as altered by the council, or the government could bring it once more before the Parliament.
