This should be a pre-cursor to a similar ruling against Apple iTunes in France: a French court has ruled that Sony is misleading buyers of its music downloads and digital music players by not warning them that the players would only play songs from its own music service Sony Connect, reports FT.  The judgment, delivered in December, ordered Sony France to make this clear on the packaging of its music players and to publish the court’s findings on its homepage.
Que Choisir, the consumer association that launched the case in 2005, has taken similar action against Apple iTunes-iPod closed ecosystem. The case is due to be heard later this month.
The court said it did not have the authority to force Sony to stop using DRM but it ruled that in tying sales of music to a single type of player, Sony had breached French law forbidding such “linked sales”.