The French National Assembly approved a digital copyright bill on Tuesday that will require DRM (digital rights management) developers to reveal details of their technology to rivals that wish to build interoperable systems. Deputies voted 286-193 to approve the bill, called "Authors' rights and related rights in an information society." The bill now goes to the Senate for a second reading and a vote, before it can become law. As expected, Apple has responded angrily to this and claims that this would result in increased piracy, since when a tool strips the DRM off a song to add another, the song becomes unprotected between the two processes, much like during the time when an item out of one safe and put it into another. Due to how strong Apple is against licensing out its proprietary FairPlay DRM technology, there is a good chance Apple will withdraw its iTunes service from France completely if this bill passes, particularly if only France decides to make this move.

In addition, the bill will make it illegal to develop, distribute or promote peer-to-peer software for purposes other than engaging in collaborative work, research or the exchange of noncommercial works. In addition, if French Internet users are found to have traded illicit files using P2P software, they will face a fine of $46 per infraction for downloading, or $182 per infraction for uploading. The bill calls on the Council of State to determine what level of trading constitutes an infraction.