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Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • The Life Pursuit

    • 8 out of 10
    • Belle & Sebastian
    • The Life Pursuit is a sort of Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. You get Belle & Sebastian's peanut butter (its wistful, often irresistible pop) dipped in a 'Have A Nice Day!' and glam 70s chocol

  • So Jealous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Tegan and Sara
    • So Jealous is the third album from these sisters, and easily the one to single out for an introduction to their music. Some people may not get on board with their vocal styles, which are slightly

  • Quadrophenia

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Who
    • Quadrophenia is everything that Tommy wanted to be, a rock opera that told a story, but one where every song could still stand alone. It was also Pete Townshend's farewell tribute to the Mod

  • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

    • 8 out of 10
    • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
    • When I first got hooked to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the only place I could get their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was through the band's Web site. I listened to the two tracks a

  • 2112

    • 10 out of 10
    • Rush
    • We all know it, right? Well, ya just gotta have it. 2112 finally showed Rush out on their own, doing their own thing, and doing it well, IMHO.

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News

Analyst: Impact on Apple From French Law is ‘Minimal’

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster on Tuesday issued a second research report in which he reacted to the French National Assembly's vote on a bill that would open the iTunes Music Store's FairPlay DRM, assessing the impact as "minimal." He expects Apple would rather exit the French market than allow iTunes Music Store purchases to play back on competing MP3 players.

As The Mac Observer reported, the French Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would prohibit music from using a proprietary copy protection scheme that limits playback to only one brand of device. While it doesn't force companies to open their DRM formats, it does allow consumers to petition the courts and ask them to impose compliance.

However, the bill must be approved by the French Senate before it goes into law, a process that will take several weeks. While Mr. Munster expects the bill to finally become law, and Apple to react by pulling the iTunes Music Store out of France, he doesn't expect such a move to have a material impact on the company's overall business.

"While ths sounds like a drastic move," he wrote, "we estimate that approximately 20% of iPod and iTunes sales occur outside of the U.S. The French market alone is likely less than 2% of iPod and iTunes business." He believes Apple will take that hit rather than "start what could be a slippery slope of other countries passing similar legislation."

However, even if Apple remained in the country and allowed the FairPlay DRM to become compatible with other devices, Mr. Munster doesn't expect iPod sales to be "measurably impacted."

He added: "The iPod drives demand for online music sales in iTunes and not the other way around. Apple would be at risk to losing some iTunes business if similar laws to the proposed French online copyright bill were passed in other geographies, but it is important to keep in mind that the profitable component of the 'portable device + music service' equation is the portable device and a loss of some portion of music service would not have a dramatic impact on bottom line results."

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