US legislators are debating whether to force Apple"s products to interoperate with Microsoft"s. The Congress have been considering a plan that would outlaw music protected by proprietary digital rights management (DRM) technology, such as Apple"s FairPlay, which stops iTunes downloads being played on Microsoft digital music players and vice versa.
However, yesterday"s Congressional subcommittee hearing on "Digital Music Interoperability and Availability", which included debate on mandating interoperability for digital music, received a "hands off" message from industry representatives. William Pence, Napster CTO, told the subcommittee that the music industry will eventually promote interoperability itself without the need for government intervention.