The French parliament will on Thursday vote on a law that would allow consumers to play iTunes Music Store songs on devices other than iPods. According to a Reuters story, the law would make it legal to use software that cracks digital rights management (DRM) and convert content from one format to another.

Reporter Astrid Wendlandt observed: "The law, if enacted, could prompt Apple to shut its iTunes store in France, some industry observers say, to keep from making songs vulnerable to conversion outside France, too." He noted that record sales were down 8% in France last year, but the sale of digital music in the country was up fivefold.

The new law would also subject to a fine consumers who illegally download copyrighted material, as well as those who make that content available to others. People who make and sell file-sharing software would continue to face the possibility of a fine and a prison sentence.

Mr. Wendlandt said that France is considering the law because it needs to "transpose the European directive on copyrights into its own body of law, which it failed to do by the December 2002 deadline." DVD movies would not be part of it, which would still need to be approved by the French Senate and would not go into effect until June.

French and British Apple executives did not return calls seeking comments on the matter.