BBC NEWS | Technology | French MPs vote to open up iTunes

The French parliament has backed plans to give consumers more choice over music downloads from the internet.

MPs backed a draft law to force Apple, Sony and Microsoft to share their proprietary copy-protection systems by 296 to 193 votes.

The aim is to ensure that digital music can be played on any player, regardless of its format or source.

I don’t know how this will affect the French market, but I know how it would affect me. It wouldn’t get me to use a player other than my iPod, but it would get me to look at other download services besides iTunes Music Store, especially for stuff that ITMS doesn’t have.