Interoperability is a Culture of Piracy?

Apple has criticised a French law that could break the locks tying songs from the iTunes store to iPod players.
“If this happens, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers.”
“iPod sales will likely increase as users freely load their iPods with “interoperable” music which cannot be adequately protected. Free movies for iPods should not be far behind in what will rapidly become a state-sponsored culture of piracy.”
So, just because the files are open means people are instantly going to pirate? I’m assuming this also means that the iPod currently doesn’t accept anything that isn’t protected by iTunes? Wrong. 🙂 The players, according to the Apple website, already support a variety of formats, not just ITunes protected AAC.
The files are still “legally” obtained, they’re from the iTunes store. The problem is, you might not have to buy music for your iPod only from iTunes, or might be able to use another music player besides the iPod, and as a result breakdown Apple’s business model and profit margins.
Personally, I enjoy how words like “interoperable” are used in their statement, in the same critical way that republicans say “liberal”. That interoperability is *bad*, and is something to be rejected by any moral person.
Not that I should expect anything less from a statement designed to spread FUD over the law anyway, that legal sales will drop in favor of piracy just because they can no longer restrict what you might do with the music you _bought_, not licensed or leased, from them.
My other favorite turn of phrase is the stolen “state-sponsored culture of piracy” (Isn’t it supposed to be culture of terror?) I guess that means DRM is the good guys in the “War on Piracy?”
Seriously, DRM isn’t protecting anything, if you can play it, you can copy it. Unless the iPOD goes so far as to try to break compatibility with other consumer electronics, which, as far as I know, it doesn’t. Its success is not based on the existance of DRM, its about answering consumer demands, and if one of those demands is interoperability between devices/services, perhaps instead of branding these people pirates, you should listen to your consumers, before somebody else does.
From the BBC News Article –
“Apple attacks plan to open iTunes” –
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4833010.stm