BPI calls for open iTunes

Apple's iTunes Music Store is drawing more fire overseas. The British Phonographic Institute has asked Apple to make its iTunes DRM (Digital Rights Management) compatible with other music players, according to The Register. The request comes just one day after a consumer advocate group won a preliminary ruling that could force the Cupertino-based company to change its iTunes terms of service in Norway. "We will not sue you for filling your iPod with music you have bought yourself," said BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson. "Traditionally the recording industry has turned a blind eye to private copying and has used the strength of the law to pursue commercial pirates."

Roots in France

France earlier this year began the trend when it strove to pass a law that would force Apple to open its FairPlay DRM to competitors. After the French draft law surfaced, the U.S. Government spoke out, backing Apple in its right to maintain a closed iPod/iTunes ecosystem. This year in mid-March, word came that the proposal -- which would have forced iTunes to allow customers to download songs onto devices other than Apple's iPod -- was discussed but not included in the bill, signalling a narrow escape for Apple's online digital music storefront.

by MacNN Staff