The French are on to Something



As much as I like Apple / iTunes, I think the French have the right idea here. I realize the implications that this could have, but I also think that we are way too short-sided when looking at technology issues. Just look at how people/governments/businesses have worked together for years to build physical access in the form of roads, bridges, schools, etc...

We're in this new phase of life where images, music, video, etc are all going digital. Why can't we work together to build a digital infrastructure that will still fit everyone's needs? My answer (and you'd know this if you've been reading) is money. Everyone wants to make their millions - keeping users like us trapped in certain scenarios and aligned to certain companies that hold our most precious valuables, our memories.

We should be building protocols and networks that are open and non-proprietary. Just as we have built roads that allow any make of car to drive on them... we should be building pathways to digital information that would allow any computer, MP3 player, or format of media to be distributed and played.

What happens in years to come, if you've loaded all your music in iTunes and you've become completely reliant on it... then another company comes along, buys out Apple and says that you own the music, but you have to pay a monthly "subscription" fee just to use the software (and only iTunes can play your music). I know this sounds a bit extreme, but consider how pricing models have changed, how much ebbing and flowing is going on in the technology market, this is truly a possibility.

Thanks to the French, for taking a stand.
And if this kind of thing interests you, stop on over to EFF.org and see what you can do.

UPDATE: Two more articles addressing the similar issues
1. Politicians lukewarm about Net Neutrality:
http://news.com.com/Senator+Net+neutrality+may+not+happen/2100-1028_3-6049738.html?tag=st_lh
2. Merger of Broadband Titans Could Jeopardize Openness:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802326.html

French look to open iTunes to other music players
By Reuters
http://news.com.com/French+look+to+open+iTunes+to+other+music+players/2100-1025_3-6049073.html

Story last modified Mon Mar 13 12:37:15 PST 2006

France is pushing through a law that would force Apple Computer to open its iTunes online music store and enable consumers to download songs onto devices other than the computer maker's popular iPod player.

Under a draft law expected to be voted on in parliament on Thursday, consumers would be able to legally use software that converts digital content into any format.

It would no longer be illegal to crack digital rights management--the codes that protect music, films and other content--if it is to enable the conversion from one format to another, said Christian Vanneste, Rapporteur, a senior parliamentarian who helps guide law in France.

"It will force some proprietary systems to be opened up...You have to be able to download content and play it on any device," Vanneste told Reuters in a telephone interview Monday.

Music downloaded from Apple's iTunes online music store currently can be played only on iPods.

The law, if enacted, could prompt Apple to shut its iTunes store in France, some industry observers say, to keep from making songs vulnerable to conversion outside France, too.

"The person who will have converted iTunes songs will be able to make it available elsewhere," Marc Guez, head of the French Collecting Society for Music Producers rights (SCPP), told Reuters.

Apple officials in France and Britain did not return calls seeking comment.

The law would also mean that other online French music retailers such as Fnac, part of PPR, would have to make iTunes songs available on their Web sites.

Vanneste said the draft law aimed to fight piracy, encourage the development of the online digital music market in France and benefit legal online music retailers.

Record sales tumbled 8 percent in France last year while digital music sales rose fivefold.

Digital sales comprised 5.3 percent, or 259 million euros ($309 million), of total 2005 revenue for Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, which is owned by the French group Vivendi.

Under the latest version of the proposed law, people who download material illegally would be subject to a fine of 38 euros ($45), and those sharing illegally downloaded material with others would be subject to a fine of 150 euros ($179).

People who make and sell software for illegal file-sharing and content downloading would remain subject to a maximum fine of 300,000 euros ($359,000) and prison sentences of up to three years.

Police agents can monitor music exchange Web sites and trace back the e-mail address of beneficiaries by asking the Internet service provider for it through a court order.

The proposed law would also secure private copies of legally downloaded material, but the number of private copies could be limited--that's yet to be determined. DVDs are expected to be excluded from the law, Vanneste said.

The new legislation is triggered by France's need to transpose the European directive on copyrights into its own body of law, which it failed to do by the December 2002 deadline.

Vanneste said France and Spain were the only two EU countries that had yet to make the move.

Guez, from the rights group, said the law would probably not come into force until June. It would still need approval by the Senate, the upper house.

An earlier amendment that would have legalized the use of peer-to-peer networks to download songs and films for a flat monthly fee of several euros has been shelved, Vanneste said.

That proposal was fiercely opposed by music artists, film production houses and record companies.

Some legalized versions of peer-to-peer networks are starting to crop up, however, including one expected to be launched in Germany by Warner Bros, part of Time Warner.

Story Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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Posted: Tue - March 14, 2006 at 10:57 AM           |

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