Apple is none too happy about news that the France's National Assembly has decided to open up access to its iTunes catalogue to other players than the market dominant iPod. Approved yesterday, the draft law has caused shock waves across the industry. Apple has called the move state-sponsored piracy, claiming that as a result, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are starting to get somewhere.
What the law would mean is that the link between iTunes and the iPod would be broken, with other portable music players given access to Apple's store, the French version of the iTunes Music Store. Potentially, Apple could exit the French market rather than comply.