France forces Ipod to become compatible with other music software
I never buy music online (though I do buy audio books through Itunes), but I’ve always been annoyed by the fact that Ipods wouldn’t allow songs that were downloaded from Napster and other companies. It’s silly that I can burn songs of a cd and put them in my library, but I can’t take certain songs that are stored on my computer to do the exact same thing.
Well, a new French law has put an end to all that:
A closely watched French law that allows regulators to force Apple Computer Inc. to make its iPod player and iTunes online store compatible with rival offerings went into effect Thursday.
The law passed France’s parliament June 30. Although France’s Constitutional Council threw out several measures last week, concluding that they violated constitutional property protections, French President Jacques Chirac signed it this week with the body’s changes.
The worst thing about this is that they have to be forced to do it. What happens when other Mp3 players come along which don’t discriminate against any music files? In fact, they already exist.
