France Considering Law to Open Up iTunes

There's been some interesting stuff going on in France lately regarding copyright, file sharing, and DRM with respect to digital music. The latest is a proposed law that would force Apple to open up iTunes to other MP3 players. Other aspects of the law would entrench the American concept of fair use (i.e., people would be allowed to make personal copies of music they legally buy), while downloading, sharing or facilitating illegal copies of music would be punishable by fines.

This is far from over, but it's interesting to note that these proposals have, by and large, started from the viewpoint of the consumer's rights and convenience. (An earlier proposal, for example, would have allowed the use of P2P software for a set fee, with money going to the music labels.) If only things worked the same over here.