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The draft law approved yesterday has yet to be approved by France's upper house, the Senate, but the decision by the French legislators has caused shock waves across the industry.

'The French implementation of the EU Copyright Directive will result in state-sponsored piracy,' said Apple in a statement. 'If this happens,

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legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers.'

What the law would mean is that the link between iTunes and the iPod would be broken, with other portable music players given access to Apple's store, the French version of the iTunes Music Store. Potentially, Apple could exit the French market rather than comply.

Apple, however, is bullish over the appeal of the iPod. It anticipates that the French ruling could actually serve to boost sales of its iconic MP3 player. 'iPod sales will likely increase as users freely upload their iPods with "interoperable" music which cannot be adequately protected,' continues the statment.

'Free movies for iPods should not be far behind,' it adds, flagging that while the debate has mainly concentrated on online music, access to other forms of digital content - such as movies - will also be affected.