Sascha Segan


  • Apple's French Disconnection
  • Tying

Why do we have to turn to France to protect American consumers and encourage competition? Then again, there's a long tradition of the French and the Americans saving each other's hides. Lafayette started it, and we returned the favor once or twice.

In recent years there's been a disturbing trend: The French have been standing up for technology and media consumers, in a way that I wish happened more often in the "Land of the Free." Unfortunately, nowadays that slogan just means "land where corporations are free to run roughshod over consumers."

The most recent example: Apple's iPhone launch in France hit a snag when Apple realized it might have to sell its phones both with and without contracts, and unlock some phones on demand. More choices for consumers? Mon dieu!

This isn't the first time the French have stepped up to demand free competition rather than locked-down technology regimes. French politicians regularly praise open-source software. And for a while, the debate around a rather hideous pro-DRM law in France almost turned into a regulation demanding that DRM providers make their schemes interoperable. Alas, that didn't come to pass—which shows the power of DRM-wielding companies to suppress competition even in more consumer-friendly states than ours.

The French have also been part of the European Union–Microsoft drama, where the EU tried to impress upon Microsoft that because it owns entire operating-system markets it should play nice with others.

If the French unlocking law looks scary to Apple, it's no wonder that Apple hasn't even tried to enter Belgium or Finland. In both those countries, second-generation mobile phones (such as the iPhone) aren't permitted to be locked at all. —next: Tying >