The Dadvsi law had been proposed so consumers could play files across proprietary DRM restricted music players.
Apple employs FairPlay DRM, which ensures that songs purchased through its iTunes Music Store can only be played on its iPod MP3 player and not on competitors’ devices.
Changes to the law, proposed by France’s Conseil Constitutionnel, now seek to punish violators that engineer DRM interoperability on incompatible formats through fines. The provision was removed because the counsel ruled that the definition of interoperability was too vague. Originally, the law allowed circumventing DRM restrictions to enable interoperability.
Also declared unconstitutional was a provision of the Dadvsi law that proposed the decriminalization of file sharing, with fines for only those convicted of illegal sharing of music files.
Instead of fixed penalty fines, violators now face criminal prosecution and could be sentenced to jail time or a hefty fine in excess of $600,000.
Additionally, the Conseil has amended a provision that would have created a DRM licensing authority to mandate companies like Apple to provide free information to competitors, thus enabling interoperability.
Now the provision states that companies being forced to open their DRM will be paid for it.
“Everyone has lost out [on the proposed law changes],” Lionel Thoumyre, head of new technology at Spedidam, an artists’ rights organization, said. “The real problem — sharing copyright-protected work — hasn’t been solved.”