Paris Approves Law Aimed at Making iTunes Compatible With Rival Devices
PARIS, June 30 — French legislators gave final approval on Friday to a copyright law that could force Apple Computer to make songs purchased from its market-leading iTunes Music Store compatible with music players of its rivals.
Context & Ripple Effects
The measure closes a legislative arc that began with France’s 2005 debate over legalizing web file sharing and intensified when Apple publicly opposed the proposal to open iTunes in March. By April, the French minister was already framing iTunes as a competition issue through a call for fair play in the music market.
The final approval turns that dispute from a policy threat into a compliance question for Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Its significance is not merely about one player: it tests whether a national copyright regime can limit the device tie-in around a digital music catalog.
First-order effects
- Apple faces the prospect of altering how iTunes purchases work with rival music players in France, while competing device makers gain a potential route to the iTunes catalog.
- French buyers could face fewer device-compatibility limits on music bought through iTunes if the law is applied to Apple’s store.
Second-order effects
- Apple’s device-and-store integration becomes a regulatory vulnerability in France, pressuring the company to weigh a France-specific approach against changes that affect its broader iTunes model.
- Rival player makers can compete more directly for customers who value access to purchased iTunes music, shifting competition from catalog lock-in toward device features and price.
Third-order effects
- The law establishes a test of whether copyright policy can be used to require interoperability in digital-media markets, rather than leaving compatibility entirely to platform owners.
- If France’s approach holds, digital music services may have to treat DRM and player compatibility as regulatory matters as well as product-design choices.
The trend: Digital-media policy is moving toward scrutiny of platform lock-in where a music store and a playback device are tightly coupled.