Jon Johansen Breaks iTunes DRM Yet Again 1286
ikewillis writes "Remember earlier today when Apple released an update supposedly blocking the hole in iTMS recently discovered by Jon Johansen? News.com reports that he has already worked around the update, and iTMS can now be accessed from non-Windows/MacOS X systems using the new version of his PyMusique software. You can view his blog entry on the issue (ironically titled So Sue Me). More power to you, Jon!"
Re:So sue him? (Score:5, Informative)
He's likely acting as a front for another group doing the grunt work who doesn't want the legal exposure.
Given the current legal precedent he's acquired in Norway, it's highly unlikely Apple will be able to prosecute.
Re:A Name! (Score:5, Informative)
The only way for Apple to actually fix this hole is to handle DRM encryption server side, unless you consider the problem is unresolved due to the fact that DRM is a fundamentally flawed concept.
Blog Message (Score:5, Informative)
Sosumi ("So sue me") (Score:1, Informative)
Breaking the DRM? (Score:4, Informative)
And no, I didn't RTFA
Re:As a record store owner. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:As a record store owner. (Score:4, Informative)
Here you go:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=83129&thres
Re:More power to you, Jon! (Score:3, Informative)
Now, there are nice ways to expose it and not so nice ways to expose it. The best way is to contact the developers privately at first. Then, and *only* if the first method does not work, release the information to the world. I don't know if that is how it happened here, but either way I think Apple now knows about the problem. And they probably have for a while.
When a problem like this is brought to light, then it should be fixed. Furthemore, if the person who exploited it tried the nice way first, I think they should be thanked
Re:So sue him? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Companies won't let us "Get over it" (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Companies won't let us "Get over it" (Score:2, Informative)
Actually I believe the acronym is DRM for "digital restrictions management". But the point is the same.
Re:Thanks! (Score:1, Informative)
Re:More power to you, Jon! (Score:5, Informative)
A tip for you and others just in case you didn't know about this company. [magnatune.com]
Re:So sue him? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Hire they guy.... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:So sue him? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:More power to you, Jon, and I stand by that! (Score:4, Informative)
I personally don't for various reasons, however you shouldn't rail those who do for standing up for their rights. That being said, on to the show:
As a content owner, how can I be sure you've deleted the copy you owned when you "sell" it to your friend?
You can't, however if you suspect me of breaking the law on your copyright sue me. Innocent until proven guilty my friend.
They'd just be downloading it for free in the first place, regurgitating something they read on slashdot about a "dying business model" justifying their behavior.
In the states this is a big issue and I agree it is morally wrong however where I live, in Canada, it's a bit different. I pay a levy on all my blank media to prop up the dying recording giants. I figure if I'm going to have to pay them so I can back up my hard drive and burn linux distro ISOs then I'm going to get a little something from them. You can try to argue this point with me all you wish, but if I'm giving them money for essentially nothing then I want something in return.
And in the case of iTunes Music Store, you can
- copy for personal backup, including burning to CD in an uncompressed, non-DRM format
- "timeshift" the content (which is admittedly meaningless in this context)
- however, iTunes Music Store's license (fuck the DMCA) prohibits reverse engineering
Since you're able to copy for personal backup to an unencumbered format I don't really have a problem with iTMS as the rest of the rights can effectively be done from that unencumbered format. Right to Timeshift means more than just playback at a later time and does apply here. It means allowing playback on other devices, for example: CD music copied to cassette tape for play in non-CD equipped cars.
Right of reverse engineering for interoperability means the interoperability of the copyright work, not the distribution medium. In this case interoperability for the music to play on non-ipod/non-itunes players. I'm not sure if Apple is legally allowed to restrict interoperability of the iTMS protocols or not as IANAL.
Re:So sue him? -- Wrong! Crystal Quest game !!! (Score:0, Informative)
Sosumi was a sound resource stolen from a game released over a year earlier called "Crystal Quest" a game for system 6.
http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/the_fairw
The sound was stolen by apple and then renamed Sosumi and placed into System 7.
Facts are facts.
And dirty lies are sometimes trivial to prove. Any copy of Crystal Quest will show how correct I am.
Patrick Buckland never did sue apple over the sound effect. (He was the game author)
That game had lots of cool sound effects by the way.
The best was the sound for winning a level it was a comical "Ahhhhh!" sound.
Re:Just develop a Linux version (Score:4, Informative)
The largest barrier is that they probably just don't want to do it. It doesn't seem economically sound to me to do so either.
Re:So sue him? (Score:4, Informative)
"Sosumi" was the name of the sound, and it came from the equally amusing battle between Apple Computer and Carl "Billions and Billions" Sagan.
It seems Apple code-named the Power Mac 7500 "Sagan". Not that they were going to call the shipping unit by that name mind you, but just internally they needed to call it something, so they named it after the great scientist, probably out of respect.
In any case, somebody with Carl's crew found out about it and got torqued, and filed a lawsuit. Apple, after an initial WTF? reaction, obliged, and changed the name to the supposedly innocuous "BHA". Turns out that BHA stood for Butt Head Astronomer, at which point more saber-rattling was heard in the Sagan camp.
In any case, the System Software released with the Power Mac 7500 included a new sound, "sosumi." I don't recall it having anything to do with Apple Music.
Re:An arms race (Score:5, Informative)
I'm going to mention it here but someone else has already brought up the so sue me title...
The title of the blog was So Sue Me long before Jon went after iTunes Music Store like this. It's not something he's saying to Apple, ever since the DVD DMCA thing he has had this blog titled that way. Don't get the idea he's got that title in there JUST to spite Apple.
Re:So sue him? (Score:1, Informative)
As for sosumi, that was around before the 7100. I may not know what the origin is, but I know what it isn't, and it's not that.
Re:So sue him? (Score:2, Informative)
The title of his blog has been "So Sue Me" for much longer than the release of this iTMS hack. it has nothing to do with Apple, all of his releases since the DVD Decryption hack have been announced on his blog "So Sue Me."
Re:So sue him? (Score:1, Informative)
Apple's final response, after the BHA bit, was actually to rename the 7100 'LAW', for Lawyers Are Wimps.
Yes, let's lump them together. (Score:5, Informative)
Using this tool might be a problem with Apples ToS and whatnot, but creating the tool is purely a legal issue. And that issue has been clearly settled under norwegian law. There is currently no norwegian law prohibiting you from creating a tool to break any copyright protection mechanism. You have the right to access any "secret" key in your hardware or software. That is why he can do so with impunity. Apple could sue, but they would lose as the law stands today. The public prosecutor knows it and won't do it.
Kjella
Re:Companies won't let us "Get over it" (Score:2, Informative)
This is a consequence of different entities holding/controlling music distribution rights for different countries. I'm sure Apple would like to secure the worldwide rights for all recorded music...but of course they can't. Hence the patchwork of different virtual "stores" divided along national lines.
Wrong cover (Score:3, Informative)
I like No Doubt and Gwen Stefani but I don't care for either cover. However "Rich Girl [leoslyrics.com]" is actually a cover of a minor Nineties dancehall hit of the same name by Louchie Lou and Michie One. I like the original "Rich Girl" quite a bit. Obviously it's derived from the song from Fiddler but I wouldn't call it a cover of it.
BHA SAGAN?!?! NO! Crystal Quest Sound EFX ! (Score:3, Informative)
Sosumi PREDATES system 7,and predates powerpc "BHA" sagan, in fact it is from a system 6 3rd party video game apple stole it from !!!
If you read all the posts in the thread before commenting you would have learned that!
Poermac 75000 debut !?!? No!
The powerPC mac that shipped well after Sosumi debuted in system seven and years after Sosumi SHIPPED in "Crystal Quest" game for Mac !!!
Sosumi was a sound resource stolen from a game released over a year earlier called "Crystal Quest" a game for system 6.
http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/the_fairw
The sound was stolen by apple and then renamed Sosumi and placed into System 7.
Facts are facts.
And dirty lies are sometimes trivial to prove. Any copy of Crystal Quest will show how correct I am.
Patrick Buckland never did sue apple over the sound effect. (He was the game author)
That game had lots of cool sound effects by the way.
The best was the sound for winning a level it was a comical "Ahhhhh!" sound.
Why is it that 6 people posted five different fake origins of the Sosumi story tonight and I alone seem to know the damned truth? Sheesh! At least i TRIED to educate people this time. (six times no less). Someone else will have to carry the torch. I am getting tired of trying to correct all the misinformation and anon posters have a limit to how many factual corrections they can post in 24 hours (10 corrections maximum).
The only reason I am trying to educate people again and again is becasue NO ONE is reading the -1 posts and some fool keeps modding these facts down for no reason.
Re:Apple is the least of his worries... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Yes, let's lump them together. (Score:5, Informative)
Because it took the first case to set the precedent. Until then the law hadn't been tested. Now it has.
Uh? (Score:3, Informative)
They got struck down in court. Twice. Didn't even try to argue their case before the Supreme court. That is why they won't try prosecuting him over anything he does with Apple's DRM now.
Re:So sue him? (Score:3, Informative)
That's a great story, pity it's not true. The original poster was correct. Quoting from Macworld's "Mac & PowerMac Secrets, 3rd Edition":
And later, from the same page:
NOT TRUE - Sosumi is from CRYSTAL QUEST ! (Score:1, Informative)
The data on wiki is not correct at all.
Apple stole the sound effect from a system 6 3rd party video game entitled Crstal Quest.
Sosumi was a sound resource stolen from a game released over a year before system 7, called "Crystal Quest" a game for system 6.
http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/the_fairw
The sound was stolen by apple and then renamed Sosumi and placed into System 7. (and possibly 6.0.7 sound manager update)
Facts are facts.
And dirty lies are sometimes trivial to prove. Any copy of Crystal Quest will show how correct I am.
Patrick Buckland never did sue apple over the sound effect. (He was the game author)
That game had lots of cool sound effects by the way.
The best was the sound for winning a level it was a comical "Ahhhhh!" sound.
Re:So sue him? (Score:5, Informative)
the 7100 was "Sagan" (the 6100 was "Piltdown Man" and the 8100 was "Cold Fusion") [link] [ideotrope.org]
sosumi the system sound was included in system 7, several years before the 7100 was ever created (that shipped with 7.5) [link] [answers.com]
Interestingly enough (Score:5, Informative)
With iTunes 4.7, Apple changed it so that watermarked but unprotected files wouldn't play.
The solution? Remove the watermark.
By breaking the ability to use iTunes music fairly (for example, in a device other than an iPid), Apple essentially forced the authors of Hymn to make their software more suitable to piracy.
Re:Better story (but a largely incorrect one) (Score:3, Informative)
Re:So sue him? (Score:3, Informative)
DVD Jon got off because the non-infringing use case was a clear slamdunk. It made it possible to play legally owned DVDs on a Linux PC. As a bonus, the software is of little use to counterfeiters.
Effectively, the DMCA criminalizes reverse-engineering. Since that's only against the law in the US (with the Queen apparently happy to send her own to Uncle Ernie) there was nothing to charge him with. The MPAA lobbied fiercely for extradition but the fact that what he did was no more criminal than chewing gum in LA kind of spoke against that.
I don't know enough about Jon's latest project or iTunes to know what the non-infringing or infringing uses are. He's definitely not getting charged under the DMCA.
On the political side, Okokrim, the white collar crime unit, played the role of Corporate America's frothing dog last time. They've obviously got one on for Jon but they've got to back off or come up with a rock solid case. The last investigation had to cost a bundle and if this one is at all close, it starts to look like they are spending a great deal of taxpayer's money to harass a prominent person.
Jon's been here before and he doesn't seem nervous. I'm guessing he's got his ducks in a row: a solid non-infringing use, maybe a method of capturing and playing back the actual packet stream, the analogue hole and unsuitability for commercial use.
My take is that Jon and his counsel believe that what he has done is legal in Norway and that they can make a solid case for it.
Rip, Mix, Burn not limited (Score:3, Informative)
Tell my why, when it is so technically simple to do so, iTunes does not store a burn count on a single song. That doesn't seem to help the bottom line any.
Maybe, just maybe, some businesses actually do care a little about the customers - you know, the ones you have to constantly convince to give you more money? That's hard to do when they are all angry at you because you keep chipping away at what they can do and throwing arbitratry roadblocks at them.
people like you simply do not get business. It's far more than just money, it's SUSTAINABLE cash. Any business that wants to last longer than it takes to pull away from the curb in the pickup has to give people what they want in order to get money from them in a cycle. So the truly smart run businesses understanding they are there to serve you, not control you.
Re:Companies won't let us "Get over it" (Score:3, Informative)
3) Archival, the right to make backup copies of purchased works.
Note that even the page you link to notes that this applies only to computer software (and, no, the motion picture embodied in a DVD is not computer software; look at 17 USC 101 for the definition of a 'phonorecord' and you'll learn why just because something's digitally encoded and requires a computer 'machine' to make perceivable, doesn't make it software).
Re:So sue him? (Score:5, Informative)
The laws protecting the customer are far stronger here, and the seller cannot impose rules on the buyer without explicit (hand signed) acceptance of EACH clause on a written contract.
Yes, you guessed it, even Microsoft's EULAs have been proved to be largely unenforceable (for example) in Italy.
Re:Yes, let's lump them together. (Score:3, Informative)
Still, the judges DO take precedent rulings in consideration when deciding.
It's "mix, burn, rip"... (Score:3, Informative)
And as someone else commented, it's not limited to 5 times.
That SHOULD be all the nudge-nudge-wink-wink you need, sheesh.
Re:rant (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Yes, let's lump them together. (Score:3, Informative)
Precedent and common law (Score:4, Informative)
The rest of Europe, including Norway, basically uses civil law [answers.com], in which in the end only the written law counts.
Re:This is the only way. (Score:3, Informative)
I have been reading a lot of comments on here where people are bitching about the fact that the system was hacked. "if you don't like DRM, don't use iTMS" - things of that nature.
WTF people. How is corporate america going to learn its lesson unless we teach it to them?
(tangent: why do you restrict your argument to America?)
Quietly working around DRM doesn't teach that lesson. Withholding our custom does teach them, to some extent.
Now, what should happen according to Free Market models, and if the average geek assumptions hold, is that commerce learns that there is a bigger market for non-DRM content than there is for DRM content. The drop DRM and everybody's happy.
The problem with this assumption is that it assumes a perfect information flow: that commerce magically knows who would buy what and for how much.
By cheerily buying DRM content, and stripping/sidestepping the DRM, we send the message "you're doing great"
By withholding our custom, we send the message "something about your product does not appeal to me".
OTOH is it our job to do companies' market research for them?
/. effect - google text cache. (Score:3, Informative)
Yeah sure. (Score:3, Informative)
There are certain things that even if signed with blood, can't be legally binding.
Re:The Constution says nothing about copyright (Score:1, Informative)
--Artical 1 Section 8 "Constitution of the United States of America" (as quoted from parent's link)
this is the outline for copyrights and patents, the basis for the whole thing in the US. There are a couple of words that are under periodic debate:
"limited times" is under debate in that current policy provides for unlimited copyrights
"Authors and Inventors" comes up every now and then under the argument that only an idividual can author or invent (ie not a corperation (indeed, only indiviuals can apply for patents (which thay can be contractualy bound to turn over to the corperation)))
"exclusive Right" is at odds with "promote[ing] the Progress of Science and useful Arts", and indeed with the rest of the clause. This it raises the question 'are we premoting the public good or the corperate good?' My conclusion is that it is intended to premote the corperate good insofar as
it benifits the overall public good.
Oninoshiko YMMV, IANAL
Re:Precedent and common law (Score:2, Informative)
It simply embodies the principle that the court system ought to be as consistent as possible. Decisions that are made once should be made the same way if the same situation arises again. To come to a different decision would create chaos, where every court case would be a chance to potentially revisit every decision that was ever made in any court and second-guess it.
The law, to the extent possible, ought to be "knowable" in advance, not made up fresh by every judge with a gavel. On the other hand, it ought to be flexible enough to deal with new situations. That is where we rely on judicial discretion, generally to extend previous precedent in a logical way.
Re:BHA SAGAN?!?! NO! Crystal Quest Sound EFX ! (Score:5, Informative)
"Stolen" is a strong word with specific legal meaning. If the sound originates from the game (and I'm not actually questioning it), I can readily see it as fair use, considering the related lawsuits and legal precedence, but I'm not a lawyer. Janet Jackson sampled my Mac system sound, and used it in one of her songs. My startup sound for the Mac was also used in the movie Jurassic Park (when they rebooted the park's computers).
Furthermore, if my ears are correct (and they usually are) one of the sounds in that game was "stolen" from Peter Gabriel.
If you weren't being so juvenile, you might be more persuasive. Try removing the hyperbole and begin using proper grammar.
You, alone, know the truth? Well, I'm responsible for Sosumi, the System 7 beeps, and the startup sound (which all remain in use today). I don't actually remember where or how I obtained the original sound. Most of them I created such as the startup sound and others, some I obtained such as the monkey sound that made by a friend's wife.
Personally, I felt having my startup sound used (or "stolen" in your words) by Steven Spielberg to be a form of flattery.
Are you a representative of Mr. Buckland? What is your interest in this matter? I'd like to hear from him instead.