BusinessWeek: French iTunes Music Store could still close

France’s softened digital music copyright bill is unlikely to put an end to Apple’s concerns, and could still result in the iTunes Music Store being closed in the country. “The spectre of Apple shutting down the French outpost of its iTunes Music Store is very real,” says BusinessWeek’s Arik Hesseldahl. “Apple hasn’t said as much publicly, but France’s portion of Apple’s music-download business accounts for less than 1% of the business unit’s worldwide revenue. A contentious new legal and regulatory environment would make it hardly worth the effort—let alone the increased cost—of keeping the French store open. Shutting down the French unit of the iTunes operation wouldn’t affect sales of iPods, however, nor of other Apple products. French consumers also would be able to continue downloading the iTunes software and using it with their iPods.”