When does law prohibit the use of free software ?

I can't believe it. France just prohibited the use of mplayer to play DVD's (Specifically the ones that have CSS)
For me this is a two sided blade. One one side it violates the right of the users (to use the free software that is out there). But at the same time it supports the notion of secure content. To tell the truth , I am not at all a fan of all the DRM and the rest. However I believe that certain works of art deserve to be paid (say movies) because good works of art just do not come out of the blue. As for movies It takes a considerable amount of money and effort to make one and these movie makers deserve something in return (they have to make a living out of it). There is no notion of advertisement supported content as far as movies are considered (Show advertisements along with the movie ??) so either you pay or you don't get to see the movie !