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iTunes v6 FairPlay DRM Cracked
Posted by
kdawson
on Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:39 PM
from the round-and-round-they-go dept.
from the round-and-round-they-go dept.
luaine writes with an Engadget article claiming the cracking of iTunes v6 FairPlay DRM. From the article: "[A] new app called QTFairUse6 looks like it can now be used (with some amount of difficulty) to dump iTunes version 6.0.4 - 6.0.5 files of their chastely protection." At present this is a Windows-only tool for those who are "not afraid to get [their] hands dirty with a little python." Engadget does not provide a link to QTFairUse6, and neither will we. We've run several DRM stories recently, but it's been 19 months since Cracking iTunes' DRM with JHymn.
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Behold... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Behold... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Behold... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Macs have this ability - via iMovie (Score:4, Interesting)
No, they don't. (Score:5, Informative)
iMovie works by decompressing and recompressing the music, resulting in a loss of quality. Apparently, this new software works by extracting the compressed stream after it has been decrypted, giving it the distinct advantage of being lossless.
Of course, it doesn't do me any good, since it only works in Windows...
Parent
Re:Macs have this ability - via iMovie (Score:5, Insightful)
I want a legal system, so I use allofmp3 (because it is legal in my country (the UK)), but isn't there any alternatives for you to iTunes without DRM at all?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I would also disagree with the tone of your post which seems to
Re:Macs have this ability - via iMovie (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
A Link to a download (Score:4, Informative)
wonder if works for itunes video (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, NOW you won't link to it? (Score:5, Interesting)
DRM (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If every iTMS track you have has either been from a Pepsi cap or the weekly free download (as mine is), you can still make use of the software without having compromised your ethics.
(On another note, isn't it a nice coincidence that I'm wearing my EFF t-shirt today? I had just chosen it randomly, but now I can say I'm wearing it in celebration!)
Re:DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
It's like buying a Ford and ripping the Ford emblem off the car and thinking that you're "sticking it to Ford." I have news for you: Ford (Apple) is laughing all the way to the bank.
Actually, it's not like that. It's like... the opposite of that. Or not really, but it's just not like that.
There are a bunch of differences here, the first being that I don't know how a Ford logo is anything like DRM. You might not like the Ford logo, and ripping it off might be a cosmetic improvement (or not, depending on your opinion), but it doesn't inhibit your use of the car. Second, I can't think of a reason why Ford's suppliers would stop selling to Ford if their cars didn't have a Ford logo. It's generally believed, on the other hand, that Apple fought with the record companies because Apple didn't want to use DRM, but for the RIAA, it was a deal-breaker. No DRM, no music, hence no music store.
In any event, I don't think people want to remove the DRM so they can "stick it to Apple". They buy from Apple because they like the service Apple is providing, and they strip the DRM because they don't like the DRM.
Parent
Re:DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
been there, done that (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:been there, done that (Score:5, Informative)
Two reasons:
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
nothing was cracked (Score:5, Informative)
With some amount of difficulty? (Score:5, Informative)
Music from iTunes is already compressed a fair bit. Yes, you'll lose some fidelity, but the copy to CD and re-rip has always been there if you're not too picky but seriously DRM-phobic.
But other than single-track purchasing, the whole point of the ITMS is convenience. If you want music a single click away it's there. If you want it a click away, but are willing to go through hoops to remove the DRM you kinda lost the convenience part, so what's the point?
If you wanted cheap music, at least an ablbum at a time, borrowing or buying used CDs, ripping them yourself then returning ( or re-selling ) them is an option. If you look at the price of a used CD, minus the price you get selling it back the next day, it's going to be cost competitive with ITMS purchase. Heck, splitting the price of a new album with 2 friends and you all rip it before selling it is going to be a better price. Illegal, yes, but no more so than de-DRMing
So if that's an option, why would you buy from ITMS in the first place if you're going to go through pains to de-DRM it? Poor impulse control? If you can get it for the same price ( or cheaper ) by getting the CD and ripping yourself AND less hassle than removing DRM, why not do just that?
Which is why I think any DRM removal that is more than a single click just silly.
Re:With some amount of difficulty? (Score:5, Insightful)
I disagree. I personally feel that copyright infringement is dishonest. I don't feel that breaking the DMCA and circumventing DRM for fair use reasons is dishonest. I want to be able to honestly pay for the music that I want for a reasonable price. iTunes is one way of doing that. I also want to be able to play that music on whatever player I want. This requires the DRM to go away.
the whole point of the ITMS is convenience.
I agree that convenience is a big selling point but for a lot of people it is not more convenient than finding the torrent file. It is much more honest. The best solution would be a convenient service through which I could buy the music I want unencumbered by DRM. I don't know of one.
Parent
Re:Uh... (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Uh... (Score:5, Informative)
They won't, but I will: http://hymn-project.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=155 3 [hymn-project.org]
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:that doesn't make sense (Score:5, Insightful)
Does wanting to format-shift my paid content easily constitute dishonesty? If you think so, I would kindly say, "Fuck you."
Parent
Re:that doesn't make sense (Score:4, Insightful)
This notion, if applied to any other object you legaly own and use in the privacy of your own person could make it "wrong" to bake a cake with the surgar you just purchased for sweetening your breakfast cerial. Or more to the a simular end, It might make it "illegal" to crush your vitamins and drink them from your orange juice in the morning because the bottle says clearly they intended them to be swallowed whole with water. Simply absurd!
I wonder if people realize this when they try to support the idea of "you can only do what someone else wants you to do after you paid for something?" Can i joins in on saying "Fuck You"!?
Parent
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Uh... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Uh... (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Uh... (Score:5, Informative)
It works, and works well.
Also, it doesn't actually require any mucking about in python; it works out of the box, once python's installed. If you're mucking about, it better be to add 'faad -a dump_xx.decoded.aac dumpxx.aac' to the end of the dump process.
Meanwhile, the link in the forum linked by the engadget article is to rapidshare.de. I hate these things, and I assume most others do. Additionally, that zip doesn't have FAAD in it. So, I took the liberty of putting it in and hosting it myself. It's not offshore, and I'm nothing like anonymous, so the first Cease and Desist will get it off my site. If I get a lawsuit instead, you can be sure I'm going to grab the EFF's attention on the matter.
QTFairUse w/ FAAD [fordi.org]
Enjoy!Python 2.4.3 (required) [python.org]
Parent
Re:Psst... here ya go (Score:5, Funny)
<span style='voice: Mick Dundee' >
That's not a link, that's a link [google.com]
</span>
Parent
Re:Another Stupid Headline (Score:5, Informative)
And it wasn't even that. According to this forum entry [hymn-project.org], all the hack does is tie into the audio "output" side of iTunes and skim off the decoded AAC stream, writing it to a file. One step above grabbing it at the sound card, but certainly not a crack of the DRM itself.
What's astounding is how many people seem to consider this "a step in the right direction," when it's really a "step in a totally different direction that will do nothing for actually breaking the DRM itself." Then again, maybe I shouldn't be *too* surprised....
Parent
Re:Another Stupid Headline (Score:5, Informative)
Not quite. It grabs the audio when it is decrypted, but not yet decoded. I.e. it grabs the raw AAC frames. These can then be inserted into a proper container file and tagged with metadata. This process needs to be automated, but it should be soon.
The good thing about this approach is that, unlike capturing the audio, it accesses it before the AAC stream has been decompressed, meaning that you don't have to recompress it, adding artefacts.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The solution to stopping pure digital copies (ie not digitial -> analog -> digital) is to do all of the DRM and audio/video de
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And no, Apple shouldn't license FairPlay to RealNetworks (or whatever they call themselves these days).
Re:Another Stupid Headline (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Another Stupid Headline (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it illegal? Probably.
Was it really dumb to spend $1,000 on DRMed music? Yep.
Parent
Re:Another Stupid Headline (Score:4, Insightful)
However, much like the Fair Use clause in copyright law, the proponents of DMCA invariably choose to overlook this clause in the DMCA. DVD Jon is in the clear when it comes to the DMCA because of this clause, only it seems that no cases have been defended citing this clause. I do not worry at ALL about ripping DVDs for use on my PocketPC and posting about it on here because that clause specifically allows me to use DeCSS to bypass DRM for the purpose of interoperability with other software (Windows media Player on PocketPC 2000), and it allows me to use DeCSS (and derivatives) to view DRMed video on alternate software such as Linux. Note that it does NOT allow me to bypass DRM for the purpose of violating copyright law, but making backups and transcoding and/or timeshifting (e.g., bypassing HDCP when I buy an HDTV) are all specifically excepted from liability/prosecution under the DMCA.
Parent
Re:Another Stupid Headline (Score:5, Interesting)
Wired had a good print article on that a few months ago. Summary: you have to get a cell carrier to distribute the phones, and none of them want to let you upload music to your phone for free instead of making you pay to send it through their data network.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Why cant they just make an iPod phone? 90% of college kids would buy them.
Blame the wireless providers that want their version of lock-in.
Seriously, why don't we have a phone market like Europe? I shouldn't buy my phone from Verizon Wireless -- I should buy my phone at Target and then pick a compatible provider for that phone. No contracts, no provider lock-in.
If we had that sort of market nothing would stop Apple from making a CDMA iPod phone for VZW/Sprint or a GSM iPod phone for T-Mobile/Cingular.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I hope that very soon kids will look at us the same way with the same disbelief and say "wait, you mean you had to get your cell phone directly from your wireless provider?!?!?"
Yes, you can get a cell phone and manipulate it in the same way
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Landline phones in the US used to be rented from your telephone provider.
You are talking to somebody whose Grandmother and Father worked for Ma Bell. I know all about those days!
Yes, you can get a cell phone and manipulate it in the same way that in the old days you could get an "illegal" extra landline phone, but this is rare.
How? VZW won't even activate a phone for you nowadays unless you get it from them. Even a completely unlocked CDMA phone direct from Motorola. If you get the phone from the
Re:Another Stupid Headline (Score:5, Funny)
Pah! Those Europeans and their "free choice" crap... Next thing you know, they'll be talking about how they need more than two political parties to choose from!
Parent
Re:Google: QTFairUse6 (no results?) (Score:5, Funny)
Haven't you heard? Google CEO joins Apple Board [slashdot.org].
Google have given up on 'do no evil' in favour of joining Apple
Parent
For uncensored search results (incl. this) (Score:3)
I would also provide a link to
Re:DRM v GPL (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent