Slashdot Mirror

Agreed,

There is an open source ALAC decoder available (http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html) (who does a bunch of other interesting stuff - http://craz.net/

I think he also has an open source ALAC encoder made, but I think it was sold for commercial purposes. Contact him to find out the details.

Agreed,

There is an open source ALAC decoder available (http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html) (who does a bunch of other interesting stuff - http://craz.net/

I think he also has an open source ALAC encoder made, but I think it was sold for commercial purposes. Contact him to find out the details.

The lossless codec has been reverse engineered. WMP uses ActiveX components to decode audio, so it's not that hard to add support for any audio format if you know how to write .ax dll. Other media players have their own codec formats, and in fact FFMPEG has support for ALAC, so you don't need to.

What digital lock in? I rip my own cd's and albums to Apple Lossless format. There's also an open source encoder as well.

Alac decoder source is here: http://craz.net/programs/itunes/

Previous Slashdot story on the alac decoder.

Something else to consider about the control of music is that music can inspire, cajole, teach, anger, inform, etc. There are people who don't want non-controlled music for more reasons than just money. Music is too dangerous to just let float around inspiring people. Read Plato's Republic and notice the talk of control of music, control of art, etc. for the purpose of supporting state goals.

In case anyone was wondering, Apple have not changed the DAAP authentication with this new version of iTunes. So my various iTunes apps for linux, etc still work.

In case anyone was wondering, Apple have not changed the DAAP authentication with this new version of iTunes. So my various iTunes apps for linux, etc still work.

Hey,

I'm the author of the decoder in quesiton.

I originally started doing the decoder so I could have my own little Airport Express emulator.

However, Apple have (for once) secured their system pretty well, and I have been unable to break their encryption so far. I know exactly what I need to do, and I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to do it... But first I actually need to get one of these devices.

So yeah, It's certinately on the table. Shouldn't be too far off.

No... only twice.

And it isn't really streaming. Here's out it works:

1) You access your remote iTunes share on your desktop from your laptop, this goes over DAAP and the files are transfered over to your laptop in full. That is either the AAC or MP3 files are copied over using a protocol similar to HTTP. Since these files are so small, it's not really a problem.

2) When you have the Airpot Express selected as your output speaker, the files are transcoded on your laptop to ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec). These files are considerably larger, but still small enough to go over 802.11(b,g). These files are then transfered to your Airport Express over the Airtunes protocol and played there.

So that's only two hits through your main wireless hub; and the first one is so small anyhow. I wouldn't worry about it. Just go for it.

PS - you can check out my iTunes stuff at http://craz.net/programs/itunes/. Including my work on reversing and re-implementing DAAP (the iTunes share stuff).

David

Hi,

The airtunes protocol is incredibly simple, in fact.

The problem is that it transcodes everything in to ALAC (apple lossless audio codec). This protocol hasn't yet been reversed, so no one can decode them to play without Quicktime installed.

FYI - the XBox Media Center uses my DAAP library, libopendaap, for streaming from iTunes. Check it out at: http://craz.net/programs/itunes/.

David.

It will likely just be DAAP with the abillity to push music up. For DAAP see my iTunes website

So I've just checked iTunes 4.6 and it appears to NOT break iTunes sharing, unlike last time.

I've updated my iTunes webpage to mention this.

Anyhow, one really cool feature that it seems to add for that AirTunes stuff is the ability to 'push' music upwards, rather than just pull down. This will allow one to control remote devices (what music is playing). Now I just can't wait to get my hands on an (Australian) AirPort Express device to reverse it. I can already think of a tonne of applications for this.

Apple : iTunes 4.5 Authentication Cracked
Posted by michael in The Mysterious Future!
from the powered-by-mountain-dew dept.
fooishbar writes "Yesterday, Apple released iTunes 4.5, which deliberately broke the 4.2 authentication scheme, which had been successfully reverse-engineered. However, crazney has been at it again, and within 24 hours of downloading iTunes 4.5, has broken the new scheme, and added more features to this library along the way. If you want to incorporate iTMS support in your program, give libopendaap a go!" Reader ScottGant submits this story about the Pepsi/iTunes promotion: "News.com has this story about Pepsi's iTunes promotion give-away. The promotion,
This was automatically brought to you by Subscriber Ruiner 1.01

Apple : iTunes 4.5 Authentication Cracked
Posted by michael in The Mysterious Future!
from the powered-by-mountain-dew dept.
fooishbar writes "Yesterday, Apple released iTunes 4.5, which deliberately broke the 4.2 authentication scheme, which had been successfully reverse-engineered. However, crazney has been at it again, and within 24 hours of downloading iTunes 4.5, has broken the new scheme, and added more features to this library along the way. If you want to incorporate iTMS support in your program, give libopendaap a go!" Reader ScottGant submits this story about the Pepsi/iTunes promotion: "News.com has this story about Pepsi's iTunes promotion give-away. The promotion,
This was automatically brought to you by Subscriber Ruiner 1.01