The draft law on digital music rights coming in French parliament Thursday includes a clause that would make it legal to convert digital content into any format—and that could mean trouble for proprietary systems like iTunes and, although the story doesn’t mention it, most likely Microsoft’s Janus. Christian Vanneste, a senior parliamentarian, told Reuters the proposed law would “force some proprietary systems to be opened up .... You have to be able to download content and play it on any device.” No comment from Apple but the sky-is-falling brigade suggests passage could mean the closure of iTunes France.

Meanwhile, one of our readers has responded to my request for the take from the ground. Nathanaël Chosson explains the chain of events starting with the surprise December vote to legalize P2P through the artists’ opposition and the intense lobbying efforts as the vote nears.