Holland joins anti-Apple DRM war
p2pnet.net News:- Holland has joined other European and Scandinavian countries in their fight to force a giant America corporation into treating its customers fairly.
German and French consumer groups are following Norway in battle against Apple’s unfair Fairplay DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) consumer control system.
Now Dutch consumer protection agency Consumentenbond is demanding an investigation into what it’s calling “illegal practices” by Apple’s iTunes, says The Canadian Press.
“What we want from Apple is that they remove the limitations that prevent you from playing a song you download from iTunes on any player other than an iPod,” it has Consumentenbond spokesman Ewald van Kouwen saying.
In typical PR-spinbabble, Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr hoped, “European governments will encourage a competitive environment that lets innovation thrive,” says CP, adding:
“Simmering European discontent with Apple’s rules first boiled over in June 2006, when consumer agencies in Norway, Denmark and Sweden claimed that Apple’s practices violated contract and copyright laws. French consumer lobby UFC-Que Choisir and its German counterpart Ferbraucherzentralen joined the effort late last year, along with Finland’s Kuluttajavirasto.
“In August, France passed a law that giving regulators power to force Apple to license its software or hardware to rivals so they can make compatible music players and stores. Early drafts of the law would have ordered the outright removal of copy-protection software, which prevents song files from playing on devices using rival copy-protection systems. Apple complained the law was tantamount to ’state-sponsored piracy.’ But in its final form it has not led to any significant change in Apple’s practices in France.”
Consumentenbond also plans to oppose Microsoft’s use of Plays[not]ForSure DRM on Zune, “or Sony or any company that does so,” adds the story.
Also See:
Apple’s unfair Fairplay – Apple Fairplay DRM ‘illegal’, January 25, 2007
The Canadian Press – Holland joins rebellion against Apple’s rules restricting iTunes music to iPods, January 26, 2007
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