[IP] more on Apple's iPod code 'cracked'
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dan Shoop <shoop@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 25, 2006 5:51:38 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] Apple's iPod code 'cracked'
At 9:28 AM -0400 10/24/06, David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message:
Jon Lech Johansen, affectionately known as DVD Jon, garnered
worldwide fame and notoriety when, at the age of 15, he cracked the
encryption scheme used by DVD. This allowed for DVDs to be copied
and played back on any device.
Now Johansen claims he's mastered the inner workings of the iPod
and its FairPlay encryption technology, allowing him to remove many
of the restrictions Apple places on its users.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/digital-music/apples-ipoditunes-code-
cracked/2006/10/24/1161455702584.html
This article incorrectly states that music downloaded from iTunes
can't be played on non-Apple MP3 players. Apple's downloaded tunes
are encoded in AAC format, which itself isn't playable on most MP3
players. (If it were, and if the players supported the FairPlay DRM
system then they could play them directly too.) To play them on
players w/o such features simply first burn the tracks to CD and then
follow the procedure you'd normally use for loading CD music onto
your non-Apple MP3 player.
Likewise the article is incorrect that iTunes and the iPod somehow
prevents other markets for MP3 tracks. The iPod will happily play any
other MP3s from other vendors. What it won't play is tracks recorded
in closed DRMs, which should be seen as a good thing. Fairplay is a
much more open system for DRMs.
What DVD Jon should be unhappy about instead is that other parties
use closed and highly restrictive DRM schemes that prevent them those
tracks from playing anywhere that those closed DRM mechanisms are
utilized. Then again they also don't let you own the music you've
bought either ;)
--
-dhan
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Dan Shoop AIM: iWiring
Systems & Networks Architect http://www.ustsvs.com/
shoop@xxxxxxxxxxx http://www.iwiring.net/
1-714-363-1174
"The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right
questions." -- Claude Levi-Strauss
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