Vive la DRM! Parts of French iPod law struck down

The French government and other companies to make their DRM-protected music compatible with any digital music device without compensation. That per the French Constitutional Council, which says parts of France's recently passed "iPod law" are unconstitutional--namely the bits that reduced fines for illegal file-sharing and would require digital music interoperability with multiple devices. In fact, the Constitutional Council took particular issue with the reduced file-sharing fees, which put the penalty for pirating music on a par with accidentally letting the meter run out. In related news, thousands of U.S. college students just canceled their plans for study-abroad semesters in Paris.