This is crap!!!

Ditto.. F the French. They can get their scrawny butts up and go to a store to buy music.

Leave it to the French to pass anti-capitalism legislation. My prediction is that Apple pulls out of France to protect it's DRM. If the EU passes similar legislation then Apple might have to reconsider their business model.

I find that's really a stupid thing.

I create a music player like iPod, I make it very nice and appealing, a lot of people love it, other don't. Great.

So I create a music store to feed it, a lot of people use it, other don't. Great.

Then, going beyond the normal and good sense that should guide a Company, I make a gift to all the competitors, breaking the solid link between my player and my music store. So that all the investment on research, my ideas and everything I put on my creation is - literally - burned.
Stupid.

I had a nice idea, I could realize it, so I should be punished for it.
Are they CRAZY????

eh , i cant really say if i agree or disagree with the decision

I'm surprised by the faces in here.

The fact that Apple can get away with a closed DRM scheme is highly annoying. Legislation such as this would help consumers, not hinder them. Except, if it only happens in France, Apple will probably just exit that market and nothing will change.

The real problem with all of this is not having to do with Apple using DRM to get an edge. Honestly their scheme is crackable and simple and yet they still use it. The problem is simply the labels require Apple to have a DRM scheme if they are to provide the music Apple wants to sell. Compliance with this would mean either no DRM which the labels would stop selling music to Apple and Apple's store would loose almost everything besides independent and smaller less lame labels (the few that are left) or they open up the format which makes it legal to remove the DRM because its no longer a technology that is being CRACKED and the DMCA wouldn't apply.

So to me France just doesn't get it. Then again France never really has ever got it...

Wow, everybody here seems to love DRM.

For the record, I hate it. DRM constantly gets in my way, even after I've legally paid for it. For example, I've bought about $500 worth of audiobooks at Audible.com. However, because of the DRM, I can't play them on my phone, only my iPod, and because it's limited to 3 computers, I constantly have problems playing it on the computer I'm on at that moment, even though I don't share them with anybody else.

DRM is bullshit. I'm happy to pay for things as long as the price is reasonable, but please no DRM!