The New York Times had an article this morning about a new digital copyright law in France. The main features (according to the article) appear to be a requirement that music downloading services be usable on multiple devices (as opposed to Apple’s Ipod monopoly) and a relatively small penalty for unauthorized downloading of copyrighted material.
For comments on the law, the Times turned to a representative of Apple, a representative of the recorded music industry, a representative of the software industry, and a business consultant. This would be like writing an article on steel tariffs and only getting comments from the steel companies and their workers. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to get some comments from consumer groups or at least economists who could discuss the potential benefits to consumers and the economy from lower prices?
–Dean Baker
