France Softens iTunes Law, but Apple Is Still Disgruntled
Leading French lawmakers voted Thursday to water down a draft copyright law that could force Apple Computer to make its iPod music player and iTunes online store compatible with rivals’ offerings.
But the changes did not appear to go far enough to satisfy Apple, which dropped the strongest hint yet that it might withdraw from the [...]
France rolls over on iTunes DRM-busting law
France has given the thumbs-up to the defanged version of a controversial law that would have forced Apple Computer to open up its iTunes digital rights management to players other than its iPod.
The Dadvsi law, which originally included provisions to allow people to crack DRM protections and oblige Apple to interoperate with its rivals’ music [...]
Apple hopes for toned-down French download law
Apple Computer Inc. said on Friday it was awaiting final approval of a French bill aimed at opening online media stores to rivals, which it hoped would leave the market to decide which systems prevailed.
“We are awaiting the final result of France’s legislative process,” Apple spokesman Alan Hely said in an emailed statement. “(We) hope [...]
France launches ‘Geoportal’ rival to Google Earth
France has unveiled a new website offering high-resolution aerial imagery of its entire territory, in a bid to mirror the planetary success of the US pioneer in the field, Google Earth.
President Jacques Chirac chaired the official launch of the Geoportal — found on the website www.geoportail.fr– a free service which allows users to zoom in [...]
Politicians smell votes in Sweden’s file-sharing debate
The Jolly Roger-waving, pro-piracy demonstrators are no longer in the streets here, but the police raid in late May on the popular file- sharing Web site, The Pirate Bay, is still making waves, increasing pressure on politicians to change Sweden’s copyright laws.
The Swedish debate ties into events in France over the past few months, where [...]
RIAA: One Month of Torrents is Worth More Than the GDP of France
According to the RIAA’s own figures, the math is catastrophic!
In January 2006, there were approximately 2370 music torrents posted. By estimating that each music file is 5 megs, we can estimate the number of infringements as the number of downloads multiplied by the estimated number of songs. I ran my program, and when I saw [...]
French rival to Google
The French president, Jacques Chirac, yesterday unveiled what he hopes will be his great legacy to France’s struggle against the global dominance of the US: a series of technological projects including a European search engine to rival Google.
Mr Chirac, who walked out of an EU summit last month when a fellow Frenchman committed the grave [...]
Analysts Agree with France’s iTunes Move
Analysts say the French are on to something that the rest of the world has yet to figure out: It needs to set rules for this new market now or risk one or two U.S. companies taking control of online access to music, video and TV.
French to Force iTunes to Work on Third-Party Portables
French parliamentarians finished drafting a law on Friday that would open up Apple Computer’s market-leading iTunes online music store to portable music players other than its popular iPods.
Apple’s French Dis-Connection?
Take a complicated issue such as copyrights in the Digital Age. Throw in a generous helping of French politics and stir it with a dash of socialist ideology. The resulting concoction might not taste very good to executives of Apple Computer, and indeed could force the computer maker to change the way it does business [...]
