French 'iTunes' Law Passed

Several media outlets are reporting on the passing of the French copyright law which aims to force companies to open their digital rights management formats to other companies.

The law was first reported in March and sparked speculation that Apple could potentially withdraw iTunes from France.

A softened version of the law later passed the French Senate, and subsequently approved today. In the revised version, they provided a potential loophole for Apple's music service:

A new regulatory authority will have the power to order companies to license their exclusive file formats to rivals on request -- but only if the compatibility restrictions they impose are "additional to, or independent of, those explicitly decided by the copyright holders."

This means Apple may have to negotiate these specific terms in the contracts with their content providers, potentially giving content providers a bit more negotiating power.