When youn can'r compete, destroy

Break up the Yankees

Just as the American media read on cue from the DNC teleprompter, my hinky meter tells me much the same is going on in Europe vis-à-vis iPod. Consider. France approves law on iTunes Members of the French Senate and National Assembly gave final approval to a government-backed legislation that could force Apple to make its iPod music player and iTunes online store compatible with rivals' offerings ... some analysts believe it might cause Apple to close iTunes France and pull its market-leading player from the country's shelves. Currently, songs bought on iTunes could be played only on iPods, and an iPod could not play downloads from other stores with similar premium content from major artists, like Napster and Sony's Connect, the report said. France is famously protectionist, and jealous of other's success, but their influence now manifests itself across the European Onion.  To wit:  Apple faces the music as public discord with iPod grows IT IS the gadget that no fashion-conscious bright young thing can afford to be seen without. But two years after Britain fell in love with the iPod there are signs that the pocket-sized box that transformed the way millions listen to music is beginning to lose its shine. Internet chatrooms are carrying accounts of "unreliable machines", while questions are being asked about working conditions in the Chinese factories where they are made. Stop the tape!  ''.... questions are being asked about working conditions in the Chinese factories where they are made?"  Give me a break. To the extent this is even true, it would be prompted by provocateurs with political or financial interests.   We have about a dozen iPods in our extended family, and I have never heard a single complaint about unreliability.  I personally think Apple is heavy handed across the board, but I can and have made my own choices in that regard.  I'm pretty sure I know what to expect next from the Onion  - a Kyoto accord that would force any nation making iPods to subsidize the European music industry.  American Democrats will run with it.