PARIS -- The French Assembly on Tuesday backed a draft law that could force such online music providers as Apple, Sony and Microsoft to share their proprietary copy-protection technologies and ensure the "interoperability" of their systems and players.

The contentious bill, passed by a vote of 296-193 after weeks of heated debate, has highlighted deep differences within France's political system over how to balance copyright and consumer rights. The proposed legislation, which seeks to bring French law in line with a 2001 European directive on copyright protection, will go before France's upper house, the Senate, for approval before becoming law.

Although the new law will force manufacturers to share details of their digital rights management systems, it will legalize the use of DRM software to protect copyrighted material in a bid to fight piracy. The bill also will make it illegal to develop, distribute or promote peer-to-peer software except for collaborative working, research or the exchange of noncommercial works. Private copies of legally downloaded material will be permitted, but the number of copies allowed would be controlled and has yet to be determined, a spokesperson for the Culture Ministry said.

France's main consumer group, UFC-Que Choisir, welcomed the government's decision to ensure that digital music can be accessed on any player regardless of its format or source but criticized the new fines that the bill sanctions for illegally downloading films and music from the Internet as being "too harsh."

First offenders will be subjected to a fine of €38 ($46), increasing to €150 ($181.40) for repeat offenders who continue to ignore warnings.

People who manufacture or sell software for illegal file-sharing or which enable users to break copyright protection on CDs or DVDs could face prison sentences of up to three years and a maximum fine of €300,000 ($362,737) once the law is passed.

Christian Vannest, a senior parliamentarian of the ruling Union pour un Mouvement Populaire party, said the new bill will prevent the emergence of a monopoly of a single media-playing operating system, whether Apple's iTunes or Microsoft's Windows Media Player. "The bill will prevent the emergence of a monopoly, while dealing effectively with piracy," he said.

French analysts said Apple, which has a 70% share of paid digital downloads in some markets including France, will lose out the most if the law is passed.

"The company may have to choose between making its service compatible with those offered by rival players or shutting down its online store in France," one Paris-based analyst said. "It's unlikely that the French law will have any bearing on how companies operate in other countries."

Content owners in the U.S. are keeping a very close watch on developments. Darcy Antonellis, Warner Bros. Anti-Piracy Operations senior vp, said the bill risked adding an additional layer of complexities.

"Depending upon the outcome in France with respect to modifications to its copyright legislation, it could create a situation whereby how we can sell product in France differs from how we can sell it in other countries," she said. "Our fear would be confusion created in the consumer marketplace."

Any business looking to launch a new channel needs to be able to create a viable business model, Antonellis said, and the proposed legislation would make it extremely complicated to enact Warner Bros.' plans to provide content across a variety of platforms at a variety of price points.

"We are continuing to follow the series of deliberations on the issue and are watching it on the corporate level, because it definitely will impact how we conduct business in France," Antonellis said.

Since France is a leading member of the European Union, some observers believe this legislation likely to expand beyond that country's borders. Antonellis didn't rule it out, but said that remained "to be determined."

In the U.S., Gene Munster, a senior analyst with Piper Jaffray, wrote that he did not expect Apple to open up iTunes, but even if it did, iPod sales would not be measurably impacted.

"Over the last several years, we have seen that, despite the presence of many highly functional online music services, sales of non-iPod devices have not taken off ... iPod drives demand for online music sales on iTunes and not the other way around," he said.

Apple would be at risk to losing iTunes business if similar laws were passed in other geographies, Munster added. "Apple would prefer to remove itself from the French market rather than start what could be a slippery slope of other countries passing simliar legislation," he said.

In a statement to Reuters, Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris raised the specter of increased piracy. "The French implementation of the EU Copyright Directive will result in state-sponsored piracy," she said. "If this happens, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers."

Shares in Apple on Tuesday dipped 3.4% from $64.29 to $61.81 on news of the bill. On Wednesday, shares closed at $61.67.

Chris Marlowe in Los Angeles contributed to this report.