Digital Home Thoughts: French Court Says iTunes Can Stay Closed

"The French Competition Council has dismissed a case brought by Virgin's French arm against Apple Computer for alleged abuse of market dominance. French download site VirginMega wanted to force Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple to lift the lid on its digital rights management (DRM) technology in order to allow Virgin to make its downloads compatible with the iPod music player. Apple has refused to open up its proprietary FairPlay technology--the DRM system that allows songs from the iTunes store to be played only on iPods--to competitors. VirginMega has opted for Microsoft's DRM, which means that its downloads can't be played on iPods at all."

Sacre bleu! Further proof the French courts are full of merde. Apple has a monopoly over iTunes and Fairplay, which are the company's intellectual property. As such Apple has refused to allow other vendors access to its Jukebox software, digital audio player, and DRM technology. In other words they lock customers into their products. Hmm....that has a familiar ring to it, doesn't it? You can argue all you want about evil Microsoft and its monopolistic antics, but the fact is iTunes/iPod/Fairplay is closed, Windows Media is an open platform for all vendors...not just MSN Music. Share and share alike.