Comments on: DVD John - A Blessing in Disguise?

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:45:06 +0000

I bet apple pays him off.

By: joergsl

joergsl — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 09:22:19 +0000

Isn’t it possible to burn the iStore titles onto a CD-R and rip+convert them to MP3 afterwards? Sure, an extra step is need if compared to a DRM removal tool, but isn’t this the better way to go?

By: BJ Nemeth

BJ Nemeth — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:35:13 +0000

The article you linked to appears to have misinterpreted the facts. What DVD John announced is that he “cracked” the ability to ADD Apple’s FairPlay DRM to music, not STRIP it away.

This would allow a competing music service (such as Rhapsody or Urge) to sell copy-protected music that is compatible with the millions of existing iPods, dramatically increasing their potential market. (This hasn’t been possible before, because Apple doesn’t license its FairPlay DRM.)

This is why DVD John is looking to sell the technology to an established company — there’s no direct value to end users. (Why add DRM to your own files?)

By: MegaqwertyBut it gets better. To attract current iPod users Microsoft is going to let you download for free any songs you've already bought from the iTunes Music Store. They'll actually scan iTunes for purchased tracks and then automatically add those to

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 04:26:27 +0000

Engadget said on July 6th:

“But it gets better. To attract current iPod users Microsoft is going to let you download for free any songs you’ve already bought from the iTunes Music Store. They’ll actually scan iTunes for purchased tracks and then automatically add those to your account. Microsoft will still have to pay the rights-holders for the songs, but they believe it’ll be worth it to acquire converts to their new player.”

Has this changed?

By: Megaqwerty

Megaqwerty — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 04:28:39 +0000

On July 6th Engaget said:

Has this changed?

By: coops8D

coops8D — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 04:35:32 +0000

Yes,
That was a rumor made up. Do you know how much $$ that would cost for Microsoft to pretty much buy every song people had purchased?

By: Megaqwerty

Megaqwerty — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 05:09:46 +0000

In which case, I really hope that joergsl’s theory is correct. I’ll have to try it sometime.

By: APOLAUF

APOLAUF — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:55:24 +0000

BJ Nemeth is correct. What hasn’t been mentioned is that iTunes DRM has been “cracked” for a while now. Just use QTFairUse6. Google it, download, and run. It’s 1x, but it grabs the actual unencrypted AAC datastream right out of QuickTime (iTunes doen’t play squat - it’s just a music management application that runs QuickTime for playback purposes.) After about 2 days worth of playback, all my iTunes music is now DRM-free.