Parts of French ‘iPod Law’ struck down as unconstitutional
Friday, July 28, 2006 - 11:26 PM EST"The French Constitutional Council has declared major aspects of the so-called iPod law unconstitutional, undermining some controversial aspects of the legislation," Thomas Cramptom reports for The International Herald Tribune.
"Released late Thursday, the council’s 12-page legal finding made frequent reference to the 1789 Declaration on Human Rights and concluded that the iPod law violated the constitutional protections of property," Cramptom reports. "In particular, the council eliminated reduced fines for file sharing and said companies could not be forced, without compensation, to make music sold online compatible with any music device."
"'The Constitutional Council effectively highlighted the importance of intellectual property rights,” said Dominique Ménard, a partner at the Lovells law firm and a specialist in intellectual property, adding that Apple Computer and other companies could not be forced to share their copy-protection technology without being paid for it," Cramptom reports.
Crampton reports, "While the Constitutional Council highlighted the need for compensation, it was not such good news for Apple and other companies that what remained in place is the principle of forced interoperability, said Jean-Baptiste Soufron, legal director of the Association of Audionautes, a group opposed to copy restrictions. 'It is good news for Apple because they receive monetary compensation, but much bigger bad news if it forces them to license iTunes,” he said. “We might see the first test case of this by the end of the year.'"
Full article here.
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Wow. The courts actually kept a check and balance on government. That's an odd concept.