DRM-busting law gets French thumbs-up

The French parliament has passed a law that had initially threatened to outlaw the use of non-interoperable digital rights management (DRM) - a mechanism to control the use of music and other software.

The Dadvsi law has now enshrined the principle of interoperability for MP3 players and download services in French law, mandating that systems can now no longer use DRM to decide which devices consumers can play their music on - that is, Apple must provide technical information to allow songs bought from iTunes to work with rival music players and vice versa.

Apple's DRM, known as FairPlay, has been jealously guarded by the Mac-maker despite requests from major tech players to make it interoperable. To date, only Motorola has received a licence allowing it to use FairPlay on its iTunes-playing mobiles.

When the bill was first published, the iPod-maker had hinted it would withdraw from the country rather than comply with the legislation.

However, the law has been updated to avoid mandating true interoperability. Apple and other music e-tailers are allowed to continue using DRM if they do so with the explicit consent of the artists whose music they sell.

The Dadvsi law has also introduced fines for those caught illegally uploading or downloading music to the internet. For those making copyrighted works available on the web, the penalty will be €150; downloading them will merit a €38 fine. Whether that is per track or per instance is still to be determined.

French consumers will remain legally allowed to copy music for their own private use, although the number of copies a user can make will be determined by a newly created regulatory authority.

The authority will also be charged with judging any disputes and requests for technical information pertaining to DRM interoperability.