Opining about French politics is difficult because I don’t speak French, and so I’m limited to third-hand reports by reporters that may or may not know anything about technology law. As a result, I’ve had trouble figuring out what the French copyright bill now under consideration actually does. In my prvious post, I assumed that it was a deregulatory measure similar to the DMCRA. But after reading this AP story, it appears that I was wrong:
According to the latest amendments, copy-protection technologies like Apple’s FairPlay format and Sony’s ATRAC3 must work with competing services and players. Companies that refuse to share all essential information with any rival that requests it would be ordered to do so by a judge, under threat of fines. The draft law could force Apple to let French iPod users buy their music from download sites other than iTunes. Owners of other music players would also be allowed to buy songs from iTunes France.
This is very different from reform proposals here in the United States, which have the much more modest goal of undoing the anticompetitive features of the DMCA.
Obviously, this is partly a reflection of France’s tendency to over-regulate everything in sight. But I think it may also be a cautionary tale for libertarian DMCA supporters. There is likely to be a backlash against DRM technologies when consumers discover that they lock them into using products exclusively from a single vendor like Apple. When that happens, there are two ways the law might be changed. One is the Boucher approach: reform the DMCA to allow (but not require) private companies to create software to enable interoperability. The other is the French approach: leave the DMCA’s regulations in place, and layer another level of regulations on top dictating that companies must ensure their DRM is interoperable with competing DRM.
I think that given the three choices (the DMCA, Boucher, or France) the French solution is clearly the worst. So not only is Boucher’s DMCA reform good policy, but it will also help to prevent a consumer backlash that could lead to bad legislation on the French model.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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