Government Backs Apple Against The French

US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez made it known that the government supports Apple's contention that forcing it to open its DRM scheme, Fairplay, will promote widespread piracy. While the Secretary acknowledged needing more time to fully review the legislation passed by France's National Assembly regarding digital rights management and the need for Apple and similar companies to open those schemes to competitors, Gutierrez voiced on CNBC his support of Apple's opposition to the bill, the Sydney Morning Herald The problems for Apple started as then passed the bill in the lower house of France's government, the National Assembly. The legislation next goes to the French Senate for consideration. Upon its passage, Apple promptly blasted the bill as one that will destroy legal online music sales and jeopardize the entertainment industry. "IPod sales will likely increase as users freely load their iPods with 'interoperable' music, which cannot be adequately protected,'' Apple said. "Free movies for iPods should not be far behind in what will rapidly become a state-sponsored culture of piracy." Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web Drag this to your Bookmarks. David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.