Playfair Relocates to India

Lord Grey writes "Imagine my surprise to see playfair 0.5.0 appear on Freshmeat's project list. Remember, the project was pulled after Apple filed a Cease-and-Desist order just a few days ago. playfair's new web site talks a bit about the move, as well as sporting the latest release of the controversial utility."

What a world!

[Anonymous Coward]

Even our "Information Wants to be Free" activists are being outsourced to India!

Moderation pending

[Anonymous Coward]

We'd you moderate as Troll -1, but Slashdot duties moderation were outsourced to India yesterday. The moderation pace will pick up again as soon as our staff English learns. Thank you. Please to come again.

This was the first (sensible) post in response

[kubrick]

to the previous Playfair story, but it took the editors 3 days to post a front page story about it?

Guess it's true they can't be bothered reading the site -- maybe they should outsource their duties.

Re:Moderation pending

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Who needs the infinite compassion of Ganesha when you have Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman staring back at you with their dead eyes?

Re:Check out the sarovar.org statistics...

[Walkiry]

>> ...in 4 days playfair has gone to second place on their download counter. Jeepers.

After your post in slashdot the download counter is now #1 in the download counter webpage. What a world...

Except for that "Could not connect to the database" thingy that is.

And, irony of ironies...

[Tuxedo Jack]

We seem to have served a cease-and-desist operation on their server.

True Audiophile

[AtariAmarok]

No, you would be buying records if you were a true audiophile

You *CRACK* tell *POP TSSS* them! Nothing "snap* beats *snap snap* the perfect pure *POP* sound of an LP.

Re:For Once I don't Agree

[Anonymous Coward]

"How about playing the files on non apple hardware such as a portable mp3 player?"

Sure I can play it on my ipod.

Wanna read that first question again more carefully, pod-boy?

"What if you were searching for hidden messages and wanted to play it backwards?"

To be honest I don't do this. I listen to my music, not search for some message in it or play it backwards.

"Or play it on your network-enabled-but-not-approved-by-apple-home-ste reo."

I wouldn't buy a reciever that didn't handle it.

So in other words, you're content to be their bitch.

Important: Slashdot guide to DRM

[Anonymous Coward]

UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT:
A SLASHDOT FLOWCHART EXCLUSIVE
Start:
Did a corporation use Was the encryption--Y-->Did someone break
encryption to prevent-Y->in question the encryption and
their customers from pathetically weak? post source code
fairly using purchases? | /--to the Internet?
N-------N---<------<----N----<--+----<- --<-<No.. . |
| \ Y
N<------N----<---Did the corporation Did this new<--+
| use the DMCA in a<--Y-software enable
| Was the<--Y--failed attempt to fair use?
| corporation suppress the source
| Apple(tm)(R)? code as free speech?
| | |
| Yes +No-->Oh my God those assholes! It's time we put this source
|_ | code on a T-shirt! Time to contribute to the author's
\ / legal defense fund! Time to call our senator and tell
No big deal! him to repeal the evil, flawed DMCA! Time
Time to play "Quake!!!" to practice "civil disobedience!". Time
to write "distributed peer to peer"
corporate-subversion software! Time to call for a radical reform
of copyright laws! Time to decry Palladium(tm)(R) design and
distribution as a grand scheme to put us under the lock and key
of DRM! Time to raid DVD-Jon's jail cell with Dimitri as lead
commando! Time to hack Hillary Rosen's web site and deface statues
of Jack Valenti! Quick buy another 2600 T-Shirt!
By the way, wouldn't it be great if Devo was 99c a song?
God I still remember the HACKER MANIFESTO!!!!

Re:doubt that will last

[chris_mahan]

Investment in India comes promarily from the private sector. The private sector is interested only in money. If it was a matter of principle, they would not have gone to India in the first place.

CFO to CIO: "Hey Jake, guess what?"
CIO: What?
CFO: You know how we made 78 million last year outsourcing our call center and IT support to Hyderabad?
CIO: Heck! That was the smartest move we ever did! We're back on the Street!
CFO: Well, we're gonna have to pull back...
CIO: What? Are you out of your mind?
CFO: Not at all. The Indian government is allowing some no-name company down there to violate Apple Computer's patents on their file format...
CIO: Let me cut you off right there Buddy... I don't give a damn about Apple. It's their problem. As long as we can get labor at $1 per hour, we're staying. So, got anything else?
CFO: Yeah, we're still on for golf at 3?
CIO: You betcha!

Correct. Apple's DRM == fig leaf

[Myrmidon]

The parent post has this right. Apple's iTunes already allows you to strip DRM from a track. Playfair just makes the process a bit easier.

Apple only installed DRM because the RIAA insisted. Apple made the DRM strippable because Jobs has a clue - he realizes that music with both DRM and a price tag can't compete against free music ripped from a CD. But the procedure for stripping the DRM was obscured, so that the intended market (RIAA executives and the technologically uncurious, or (ahem) both) wouldn't notice.

The problem with Playfair is that it rips away the obscurity and exposes the fact that iTunes DRM is easily removed. Naturally, the RIAA will want Playfair shut down and the obscurity restored. Apple, of course, doesn't want Playfair shut down because Playfair is a tool which makes Apple customers very happy, thus promoting Apple products. Jobs' role is to walk the line between these two rivals.

The obvious answer is to publicly oppose Playfair while keeping it available behind the scenes. I will now play my role in this Kabuki dance by stating that Playfair is absolutely terrible and I'll never use it in public. It has bugs too. Really nasty bugs that will send you spam and make your computer explode. Of course, I believe that software = free speech and that engineers have a right to own Playfair, just as they have a right to own other ungodly writings. But I would certainly never let it be known that I use Playfair to remove the DRM so I can keep my music even after my Macintosh crashes [boingboing.net]. No, that would obviously be wrong, just like sex and bad language are wrong.