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Windows Program Enables MP3 Downloading From iTunes

Joey Patterson writes "CNET reports that an independent software developer has released a program called MyTunes that allows people to share and download each other's MP3s on a network via iTunes." This is very much like a Mac program I saw a while back called itunesdl, which allowed one to download MP3s from friends who were sharing their playlists, exactly as MyTunes claims to do.

254 comments

  1. Misleading Headline by eaglebtc · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I would like to say that the headline for this article is sensationalized and very misleading.

    If you read Slashdot regularly, you will find an abundance of published stories that seek to push hardware and software beyond their normal limits, thereby allowing greater freedom and possibly skirting the law at the same time.

    In this case, I was led to believe that I could use MyTunes to download from computers across the Internet, when in fact it is designed strictly for those who listen to Mp3s across a LAN--like a dedicated music server, for instance. It is not intended to enable sharing of MP3s across the global internet (even though it, too, is a "network").

    Thanks Slashdot!

    --
    Homestarrunner.net -- It's Dot Com!
    1. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you are saying you wish this could pirate music across the world instead of pirating music at your school / workplace?

    2. Re:Misleading Headline by dukeluke · · Score: 1

      Very informative - I must add though, that this does add a seemingly unaccounted for anamoly to the colleges, universities, corporatiions, etc. that are pushing for iTunes. After all, most of these places have their own internal network - which would result in hundreds upon thousands of songs being freely available at a finger's touch. ;-)

    3. Re:Misleading Headline by sacrilicious · · Score: 1
      Exactly. This headline is way over-sensational. And in particular, the article eventually gets around to mentioning:
      Only unencrypted MP3 files are easily captured and copied using the MyTunes software, however. Songs purchased from Apple's iTunes store, which are protected by the company's proprietary digital rights management technology, do not work with Zeller's software.
      What would have been news would be if someone had figured out how to make unencrypted mp3s from iTunes music without the round trip to a burned CD.
      --
      - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
    4. Re:Misleading Headline by Caharin · · Score: 5, Informative

      Rendezvous Proxy will take care of this for you. Use the two products together, problem solved. Easy as cake. I have used Rendezvous Proxy and it does work.

      --
      By reading this sig, you agree to be bound by all terms and conditions I choose.
    5. Re:Misleading Headline by Spyky · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Furthermore, if you put up a Kazaa share or a Windows file share or an FTP server full of MP3s, I can grab music just as quick as my bandwidth and your bandwidth will allow. With MyTunes, at best I can grab music from your iTunes share as fast as I can listen too it.

      It would take someone 9 days to copy all of the songs out of my iTunes library. This further separates iTunes music sharing from file-sharing services.

      -Spyky

    6. Re:Misleading Headline by single_user_mode · · Score: 4, Informative

      come on! nowhere does it mention the Internet in the headline! you assumed as such and when, god forbid, you had to actually read the article to find out what the post was about it was not as you anticipated... so, should /. start dragging the rest of the story into the headline just so you will not be disappointed?

      besides its a start, i am sure others will build on it, hey maybe you could contribute! & b4 you know it, the sharing of across LAN and Internet will be possible.

      whiner!

      --
      remove NOT from email.
    7. Re:Misleading Headline by Apiakun · · Score: 1

      You're right, would this headline from maccentral.com have been better? 2003-11-13 22:16:35 MyTunes exploits iTunes Windows playlist sharing (articles,music) (rejected)

    8. Re:Misleading Headline by FuzzyDice · · Score: 0

      Actually I just tried it and you can not only download as fast as your connection will allow but you can download multiple songs at the same time.

    9. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      What would have been news would be if someone had figured out how to make unencrypted mp3s from iTunes music without the round trip to a burned CD.

      They did that on mac long ago, there was a program that dumped aac to aiff (although it doesn't work with the current QT anymore iirc).
      I don't remember /. even mentioning it.

    10. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry but this sig is not enforceable in any court.

      That was his *whole point*, idiot-boy.

    11. Re:Misleading Headline by batobin · · Score: 1

      Of course, the paragraph you quote is also misleading. Apple's DRM technology is not proprietary, but rather an open standard. Look no further than WMA for something proprietary.

    12. Re:Misleading Headline by 0rganicM0lecules · · Score: 1

      This will catch on major on college campuses with WiFi access. I've been lately listening to other peoples playlists as I pass from class to class, wishing often I could grab a copy of something cool. It's like friendster for filesharing.

      --
      Which is the More Universal Human Characteristic? Fear...... Or Laziness?
    13. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm gonna cough and accidentally mention that this command-line tool (or any other tool based on the QuickTime API besides QuickTime itself and iTunes) can convert an iTunes Music Store AAC directly into raw AIFF, and that an MP3 encoder can take raw AIFF...

    14. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wrong.

    15. Re:Misleading Headline by Random832 · · Score: 1

      A party cannot be tricked into any contract under any means other than his/her free will to contract.

      cite, please? this could be useful in challenging EULAs.

      --
      We've secretly replaced Slashdot with new Folgers Crystals - let's see if it notices.
    16. Re:Misleading Headline by kingLatency · · Score: 1

      Thank you, this was a very useful post. Do you know of a similar application for Windows?

      --
      "I've got to stop masturbating! It makes me too lazy! Stop it, Albert. Stop it." -- Albert Einstein
    17. Re:Misleading Headline by kudos200 · · Score: 1

      It sounds like you need to play a song to start the download, but then once it's started, it sounds like you can then stop that song from playing. You need to play it to make that connection, but once it's started downloading, I would think you could then start another song playing and then it too will appear in the list of songs you can download. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what it sounds like.

    18. Re:Misleading Headline by Aqua+OS+X · · Score: 1

      You didn't read that post properly... It says "network"

      --
      "Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
    19. Re:Misleading Headline by babbage · · Score: 2, Informative

      According to the guy's site, this isn't exactly the case:

      The CNET story on MyTunes described it as a "stream capturer". This is wrong. MyTunes allows you to obtain the exact original file, unlike "stream capturers", which record music that's streaming and save the recorded audio to disk.

      Apparently, MyTunes grabs the actual file somehow, which may or may not involve streaming in the usual "normal speed playback" sense.

      I wonder if that means that it grabs all the ID3 tagged metadata as well. I've been trying to clean up the data in my music library, so it would be nice if this got preserved if I tried to copy some of my music from, say, my desktop to my fiancee's Windows laptop...

    20. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure iTunes downloads the entire file prior to playing (I've noticed a delay before playing VERY long MP3s when playing over Rendevous), so this feature of MyTunes doesn't seem too unusual.

    21. Re:Misleading Headline by larry+bagina · · Score: 1
      it's standard contract law. Both parties must enter into the contract freely and willingly, must be a legal subject matter, both parties must provide something of value (or perform some activity, or refrain from performing a activity they have a legal right to perform). There are also a handful of other restrictions, but those are the main ones.

      The sig isn't entered into freely and willingly by the reader, and both parties aren't exchanging anything of value.

      No offense, but I really doubt J Random Slashdot Reader, who knows jack shit about contracts, is going to formulate a new legal theory to invalidate EULAs.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    22. Re:Misleading Headline by laird · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, I thought that "Windows Program Enables MP3 Downloading From iTunes" was unusually precise. It's a program for Windows that allows people to download files from iTunes shares that they can stream. Since iTunes only shares within a LAN, you can't see shares across the internet, so you can't download from them. It doesn't re-encode the files, so if they're "protected" they're still protected. So, all around, the headline was pretty accurate. Sorry you mis-read it, but you can't beat Slashdot up over that one. If it makes you feel better, there are plenty of candidates for that honor...

    23. Re:Misleading Headline by binarybum · · Score: 1

      but it's not. the content of the headline is captivating and it makes you want to know more (i.e. RTFA). That's what headlines are for. The languange is not sensational and the wording is in no way misleading.
      Do you ever watch television news? That will give you an idea of what sensationalized headlines are.
      you were not led to believe anything -- you wanted to believe something.

      ps. very few people would ever use the word network to refer to the internet.

      --
      ôó
    24. Re:Misleading Headline by laird · · Score: 3, Informative

      iTunes doesn't really stream the music in the sense of a bit-rate limited version trickle delivered. It's more like QuickTime's auto-start download, where the full quality file is downloaded and played, only it's never written to disk. But if you capture and save the file, it's identical to the source file, in the same format, with the same DRM, etc.

      This is different from operating a streaming server, where any sound to be broadcast is squished into a single continuous audio stream, at the desired bitrate and stream format. So, for example, I can run Nicecast (great app!) and it'll take whatever sounds play on my Mac, convert it to an icecast stream at 56K bps (or whatever I tell it), and stream it out. So if I play Protected AAC's, or WAV's, or movies, etc., it all ends up in one long stream, no files, no metadata.

    25. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy god you are such a tool.

    26. Re:Misleading Headline by christopherfinke · · Score: 5, Informative
      Apparently, MyTunes grabs the actual file somehow, which may or may not involve streaming in the usual "normal speed playback" sense.
      I just downloaded MyTunes and tried it on the LAN in my dorm. Once you start a song in iTunes, it is added to a list in MyTunes of songs that you can copy. Choosing to copy a song takes mere seconds, and, as far as I can tell, it is a perfect copy: all ID3 data is retained, the size of the files is the same, etc.
    27. Re:Misleading Headline by batobin · · Score: 1

      From the recent Apple Analyst Meeting Conference Call:
      Q: "Any plans to support or license WMA going forward?"
      Jobs: "We decided to support an open audio codec standard rather than a proprietary one." (AAC) .... "That's our plan and we're sticking to it. We're feeling real good about it too".

      General info sheet on AAC

    28. Re:Misleading Headline by Simulant · · Score: 1

      Considering that large proportion of of users have ADSL (with 128 or 256Kbps upstream bandwidth) or modem connections, grabbing music from one another as fast as they can listen to it IS as fast as their bandwidth will allow.

    29. Re:Misleading Headline by jocknerd · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're mistaken. AAC is an open standard MPEG-4. The DRM is proprietary. Its called Fairplay. If you convert a CD to AAC format in iTunes, it should play on any system that supports AAC. The DRM is only put on those AAC files that are on iTMS.

    30. Re:Misleading Headline by hc00jw · · Score: 1
      Furthermore, if you put up a Kazaa share or a Windows file share or an FTP server full of MP3s, I can grab music just as quick as my bandwidth and your bandwidth will allow. With MyTunes, at best I can grab music from your iTunes share as fast as I can listen too it.

      Yes, but the user did not put up a Kazaa or Windows file share, they shared a stream of their music, safe in the knowledge that nobody would copy it! What if they don't want their music to be copied? How do you think the user will feel when people start thanking them for their music collection which they have spent years building up, when, as far as the user was concerned, this wasn't even possible?

      Like other people have said, if you want to share music, there are better mediums for doing so! So lets not steal music from people (even if it is only over a LAN) that weren't sharing hard copies of their music to begin with! It's an abuse of trust...

    31. Re:Misleading Headline by Spyky · · Score: 1

      Hmmm, that is interesting.

      I wonder if Apple will "fix" this to prevent this kind of abuse, by limiting the streaming speed to some ratio of the file speed. This could be done on the server side it seems. I think it is likely if RIAA starts making noise about this. As long as Apple doesn't capitulate and remove the sharing features entirely, I'm okay with it.

      I love to be able to sit on campus in the afternoon while doing homework and listen to music off of someone's computer. But I'm not interested in stealing it. I just bought 3 CDs based on first hearing them on someone's iTunes share.

      -Spyky

    32. Re:Misleading Headline by jafuser · · Score: 1

      What would have been news would be if someone had figured out how to make unencrypted mp3s from iTunes music without the round trip to a burned CD.

      My SB Live sound card has a "record" channel which is labeled "What U hear", which will record whatever sound the sound card is currently playing.

      My question: is this an digital-analog-digital conversion, or does it catch the digital info before it's converted to analog?

      Is this a common feature in most sound cards? It would seem like a big loophole for almost any DRM scheme if it's a digital copy...

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
    33. Re:Misleading Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong. Try using the software before you make up your mind how it works. It's actually downloading the file separately from the play stream. I can grab a 5 minute song in about 10 seconds with the bandwidth I have at work.

      Sorry for coward post, but /. hasn't mailed me my password yet.

    34. Re:Misleading Headline by Gitbo · · Score: 1

      Rendezvous Proxy is only for Mac, no? What about the rest of the world? Gitbo

    35. Re:Misleading Headline by Gitbo · · Score: 1

      If you want to challenge the EULA, just have your minor child install all your software. By virtue of his minority, in most states s/he is incapable of making a contract. Gitbo

  2. Apple: Uh... by TwistedGreen · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Is that supposed to happen?

    1. Re:Apple: Uh... by chmod_localhost · · Score: 1

      This is just like the Mac version. Apple put lax restrictions on, people abused it, and Apple had to lock down iTunes a little bit more to avoid getting sued by the RIAA.

  3. Won't work with music from Apple Store by da_anarchist · · Score: 5, Informative

    This will work just fine with MP3's, but won't work with Apple's DRM'ed files. For those, you need to actually authorize the computer so it can play the AAC file.

    1. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just burn the AAC files to a CD and poof! Instant freedom!

    2. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 1

      Well, yes if you were copying the file to your computer, but if you are recording the stream as mp3, then you can play it anywhere on anything.

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
    3. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 1

      Nope, After rereading the article I am infact a moron. They specifically state that Drm protected files from The music stor ecannot be coppied. So, how the heck is this news? How is this any different than putting the mp3's in a shared folder?

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
    4. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by obsidianpreacher · · Score: 1
      This will work just fine with MP3's, but won't work with Apple's DRM'ed files. For those, you need to actually authorize the computer so it can play the AAC file.
      Exactly. What has been gained by doing this that I can't already do with Windows File Sharing across my personal network? All this allows me is to run a program on my computer OTHER than iTunes that allows me to download music from a computer that IS running iTunes that the 2nd computer has setup in its playlist.

      Pardon me, but BFD. SCO's team of programmers has come up with better stuff than this.
      --
      topreacher@signature.slashdot.org 1% rm -rf sig
    5. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seth, I'm concerned. I recently signed up your newsletter, but have yet to recieve any information, or exclusive product offers. Please rectify this situation immediately.

    6. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by mariox19 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly! And the article wonders whether this will cause trouble between Apple and the music companies?! How, when the encrypted music files bought from ITMS are still as protected as they ever were?

      This is a nice program, but a dopey article.

      --

      quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.

    7. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by hype7 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      This will work just fine with MP3's, but won't work with Apple's DRM'ed files. For those, you need to actually authorize the computer so it can play the AAC file.


      that won't be enough to stop the ensuing shit storm. Last time something like this happened (iTunes 4.0 on the mac) it was discovered that you could enable music sharing over the entire internet. The RIAA jumped down Apple's throat.

      This will be no different - it's the akin to setting up shared file folders all over a network (think of a college dorm...), except that iTunes is a pretty interface. I think when the RIAA gets wind of this (won't be long now, and I *bet* that's why CNet published in the first place) they'll be down Apple's throat like pavlova down a fat lady's gullet.

      The endgame: I'm now concerned that the feature is going to get pulled. Which is a shame, because it's innovative and it's cool.

      -- james
    8. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The situation has been rectified.

      Thanks, Seth.

    9. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If anybody else was confused.. here are pics of pavlova[images.. I hope they can still allow streaming of AAC. FWIU (from what I understand) even if you copy an AAC file to another hardware, it won't always be playable.

    10. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

      It's a slight convenience factor. Instead of you logging into other people's shared drives and searching for music, iTunes broadcasts the user's list of songs and provides them in a nice sorted order.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    11. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by laird · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "that won't be enough to stop the ensuing shit storm. Last time something like this happened (iTunes 4.0 on the mac) it was discovered that you could enable music sharing over the entire internet. The RIAA jumped down Apple's throat."

      The problem was the sharing across the internet, which was addressed by iTunes sharing being limited (in the first upgrade to iTunes) to LAN's, after which the record companies were fine with it -- people SHOULD be able to move music freely around their home, but not copy it to strangers across the internet. Since this program is functionally identical to programs that have been out for the Mac for many months, it doesn't introduce anything dramatically new, just evens up the PC users with the Mac users. Which is to say that music can be copied across a LAN but not the internet, and music sold by iTunes can be copied but not played without authorization. It's about the same as if someone turned on file sharing, and shared their Music folder to the LAN. That being said, I'd expect Apple to do what it can to discourage the availability of MyTunes, just as they did before with the comparable Mac app's.

      It's not like Apple could prevent people from using file sharing to simply share their Music folders onto the LAN. It's not as slick a UI as iTunes, but certainly adequate.

    12. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by VertigoAce · · Score: 1, Interesting

      How long before iTunes gets shut down at college campuses just like Phynd has been multiple times. The kid across the hall from me ran a program that displayed files "in a nice sorted order" without providing the functionality to download them. Sure his was centralized and iTunes sounds like the shared playlists are broadcast (so it might be slower to browse the entire network). He lost his $12000 but Apple's allowed to do the same thing?

    13. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem I see is that how, exactly, do you define a LAN?

      One possible solution might be to put something in the software that will only let it talk to only a small, hand-entered list of MAC addresses or IP addresses. But even that's iffy, given the existence of routers. A hand-entered list would provide just enough of a dis-incentive due to being a PITA if you want to share with everyone.

    14. Re:Won't work with music from Apple Store by laird · · Score: 1

      I think that it's defined by the number of router hops. I know that people have written software to proxy "LAN" traffic (http://ileech.sourceforge.net/RendezvousProxy/) so that you can access your home music collection from work (for example)...

  4. Open Source, Email communication by Caharin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mr. Zeller,

    I recently was referred to your web page about your program MyTunes.
    Your program sounds most excellent, however I note that it is only
    available for windows. The internet community would most definitely be
    pleased if you were to make this project open source. Since you are
    charging nothing, you will only gain from this change.
    As open source software, it can be ported by other people, to mac OS X
    for example. Development would allow for greater stability, more
    features. Also, I believe sourceforge (http://sourceforge.net/) will
    host such a page for free.

    --his reply--

    Hi,

    I absolutely support open source software and have been active in the
    community (see www.zempt.com).

    The reason this version was not open source had more to do with the time it
    would have taken to choose the correct license as well as getting all the
    files together, registering for sourceforge, etc.

    I'll hopefully be able to make it open source soon.

    Best Regards,
    Bill Zeller

    --
    By reading this sig, you agree to be bound by all terms and conditions I choose.
    1. Re:Open Source, Email communication by larry+bagina · · Score: 1
      The reason this version was not open source had more to do with the time it would have taken to choose the correct license as well as getting all the files together, registering for sourceforge, etc.

      When did sourceforge become a requirement for OS development? They provide some convenient features, but quite frankly, their future is sketchy. Searching is down far too often, when you view CVS, you usually get a warning that it's running from backups, and they request donations. Nobody thought Red Hat would abandon the casual user, but they did. Does anyone think VA Linux/Research/Systems will keep on dumping money on sourceforge once they decide the cost is more than the goodwill and advertising?

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    2. Re:Open Source, Email communication by jon_c · · Score: 1

      Isn't VA Software's main business now sourceforge? I thought I remember that since they dropped the hardware business they decided that sourceforge was the future of the company, and therefor renamed the company to VA Software.

      Now if thats gong to work out is entirely another story, and where i think you have a point.

      -Jon

      --
      this is my sig.
    3. Re:Open Source, Email communication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it can be ported by other people, to mac OS X
      Only I doubt other people would bother; considering you could already do this on mac long before there even was a windows iTunes.

    4. Re:Open Source, Email communication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They make a ver$ion with extra feature$ that they sell. The watered down version is free.

    5. Re:Open Source, Email communication by larry+bagina · · Score: 2, Informative
      a brief history as I remember it...

      Once upon a time, slashdot was entirely independent. Then they sold out to Andover.net. Andover was previously an unheard-of software company, but they had a change of focus and started buying up various computer-related websites. Then they did an IPO, and were bought out by VA Linux.

      VA Linux original business model was to sell x86 hardware with linux pre-installed on it. When they IPO'd, thanks to IPO mania and some string pulling by Credit Suise First Boston (the underwriter, which was later investigated for IPO manipulation) the stock had a one-day jump from $15 a share up to $150 a share.

      Anyhow, Slashdot and the OSDN network was bought by VA Linux. Then one of the VA employees developed sourceforge, which was originally GPLd. VA Linux decided that nobody wanted to buy overpriced commodity x86 hardware even if it did have linux on it, so they dropped the hardware division, and closed up (license-wise) sourceforge.

      Today they run a handful of OSDN sites (newsforge, sourceforge, slashdot, and a couple others) and sell/support SourceForge Enterprise Edition.

      VA Software hasn't had a quarterly profit ever, but they are, per SEC docs, reducing the quarterly losses, so they may be profitable one day. They also recently got $150 million in new financing.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    6. Re:Open Source, Email communication by Luscious868 · · Score: 1

      How long ago was Slashdot bought out? I'm curious as to how long it's been since it was independent.

    7. Re:Open Source, Email communication by mehgul · · Score: 2, Informative

      As open source software, it can be ported by other people, to mac OS X for example.

      How about using iCommune instead ? It's been on OS X for about 1 year, IIRC.

    8. Re:Open Source, Email communication by capmilk · · Score: 1
      As open source software, it can be ported by other people, to mac OS X for example.

      What for? Similar applications have been available for Mac OS X for quite some time. To name only one: StreamRipperX.

    9. Re:Open Source, Email communication by Nodatadj · · Score: 1

      Late 1999 maybe? If not that then early 2000. Its scary how much time I've wasted here. My userID is 30000 for fucks sake.

      Man, I'm depressed now

  5. Whoopsee by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 1

    I guess someone goofed. Soemtimes, it isn't easy being the first ones to screw up. They shouldn't ahve implamented the filelist sharing. Something like this was bound to happpen. Now, they've threatened ticking off the RIAA.

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  6. Music isn't the only thing you can share with it! by anourkey · · Score: 1, Troll

    MyTunes is for Windows. iTunesDL was for Mac's when iTunes first came out. That's basically the fundamental diffeerence. I can't speak for MyTunes since I don't actually use a Wintel machine (No I won't go there!!) In terms of exploiting the exploit: I'm sure you can change some extensions of videos/movies, software, & whatever else floats you and you'll be on your way to a full fledged {almost} P2P. I'll leave that for someone with Windows to try and post back for the rest of us!

  7. Yeah right... by AVee · · Score: 4, Funny

    From the bottom of the site:

    And remember, copyright infringement is illegal. If you have any question whether what you're doing constitutes an infringement,
    visit the RIAA's great anti-piracy website.


    Kissing asses here, scared allready or just kidding?

    1. Re:Yeah right... by dq5+studios · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sounds like sarcasm to me.

    2. Re:Yeah right... by sysadmn · · Score: 1

      All of the above. Which is brilliant. If the RIAA comes after him, he says, "What? Look it says right here, don't infringe!"

      --
      Envy my 5 digit Slashdot User ID!
  8. Can you say Lawsuit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can just hear apple crying DRM... It's to bad that iTunes isn't open source, alot of mods could make it a really incredible program.

  9. Isn't it obvious? by TheSpoom · · Score: 3, Interesting

    DRM = protection of the music files.

    But the player then decodes the audio stream and then plays it through sound card.

    Most sound cards have line out.

    DRM *will not* work for audio in this way.

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs
    1. Re:Isn't it obvious? by eaglebtc · · Score: 1

      You can also go out the SPDIF or Optical Out port, then come back in the other SPDIF/Optical In port. I think this trick gets rid of any "broadcast flags" or similar protection in the computer.

      Would someone please verify this little trick, if I have my facts straight?

      --
      Homestarrunner.net -- It's Dot Com!
    2. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Quasar1999 · · Score: 1

      You can also go out the SPDIF or Optical Out port, then come back in the other SPDIF/Optical In port. I think this trick gets rid of any "broadcast flags" or similar protection in the computer.

      Would someone please verify this little trick, if I have my facts straight?


      Not necessarily... the flags can still be present... the key to making that work is the fact that the filters (I'm assuming a Windows system running directshow) don't process/recognize the flags when taking data coming in... A simple fix of the filter would get around that loophole... However, with the same logic, if you're a knowledgable device driver writer, you can really easily change the filter, or better yet, write a filter driver to sit on top of the existing DRM'd drivers, and hijack the signal. In the case of just a new filter, you could create a new output pin without restrictions, strip the flags, etc, and pipe it directly to the file-capture filter, and presto, you can make a perfect digital copy, without any hardware modifications or wiring trickery (although I like your original logic... Funny how Microsoft didn't plug that hole...)

      Or if the driver itself handles DRM, get a little lower in the stack and write a filter driver to sit underneath the hardware driver, and filter the signals there... or replace the driver for the device all together (there are enough of us driver developers out there that it can and will be done when the time comes... ;) )

      --

      ---
      Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
    3. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Josh+Booth · · Score: 1

      Actually, the program has very little to do with downloading from iTunes or encryption, since it does neither. But I wanted to say something anyway. Would it be possible to get VMWare to run Windows under Linux to play an encrypted audio file through a virtual soundcard that is hacked so the straight PCM is saved to disc?

    4. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what eaglebtc was referring is audio hijacking. and it's always possible but the sound quality will suffers.

      what you are talking about is some kind of watermarking. I don't think AAC is using this kind of DRM. and even if Apple does use it, you can always re-encode the file to mp3 or other format, sound qaulity still suffers, but less than audio hijacking and probably a more elegant way to get rid of the DRM.

    5. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

      Apparently, someone's trying to make a living selling among other things a "virtual sound driver" for Windows machines. It's a sound driver that is able to write the stream straight to the hard disk. I'm not recommending anyone buy it (since it seems pretty cheesy to me), but here's a link talking about it.

    6. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With SPDIF, you'd have enough accuracy to make fingerprinting viable without audio loss.

      On lossy compression formats (MP3, AAC, etc.), it seems like you'd have to be in control of the decoder portion to maintain the fingerprinting in the actual media stream.

    7. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

      This looks like a free one that does among other things the same thing:
      VDM Sound Project

    8. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

      Forget that last post. Their front page was a bit misleading...

    9. Re:Isn't it obvious? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      It's called SPDIF (I forget where the slash goes) whether it's coaxial or optical. It's the format, not the medium. SPDIF does indeed include a protection flag; most consumer devices honor it, most professional devices do not. However you can build a device to strip it trivially; Just get a decoder and an encoder, and don't connect the pin for copyright between them. Hook up power, and run the outputs from the decoder into the inputs for the encoder, and you're done. It really is that simple, if you get the right chips. (A friend of mine has done just this.) So that "protection" is really no protection.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    10. Re:Isn't it obvious? by YOU+LIKEWISE+FAIL+IT · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Run VMWare with either esound output if it supports it natively, or using esddsp, and you can use esdmon to tap the current esd buffers and dump them to disk. Then just run them through Lame, et voila.

      I have mixed feelings about the program in the title. It's a very cool hack, but I hope they don't take away the 'casual listening' on networks feature from iTunes under corporate pressure from folks who don't understand what an audio scraper is, because I really liked it. It really goes well with Wifi/Rendevous.

      YLFI
      --
      One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
    11. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Arkham · · Score: 1

      You can already use either Ambrosia WireTap or Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack to record the audio stream as it's sent to the sound card (in digital form), at least on MacOS X.

      This is really no different that burning to a CD and re-ripping, which people have been able to do all along.

      You can also convert m4p (AAC protected) files to AIFF with Toast Titanium or with Apple's own iMovie, then convert the AIFF to whatever form you choose (Ogg, Mp3, non-DRM AAC) using iTunes.

      --
      - Vincit qui patitur.
    12. Re:Isn't it obvious? by EddWo · · Score: 1

      I believe there is something in the drivers that disables the digital output when playing back WMA encrypted content. I'm sure I remember reading that Creative issued a driver update in order to comply with this. To get a driver digitally signed by Microsoft requires implementing these "features".
      This is certainly one of the areas that MS will address with NGSCB. I expect by then it will be impossible to play back encrypted content with unsigned drivers.

      --
      "Taligent is still pure vapor. Maybe they'll be the last who jumps up on Openstep... "
  10. More patents on the way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope they don't start patenting every little thing about this program (like a certain other company I could mention)...

  11. Hmmm... by DarkHazard · · Score: 1

    Has this guy heard of the RIAA?

    1. Re:Hmmm... by Chmarr · · Score: 1

      Considering he links to the RIAA at the bottom of the web page, I'd hazard a guess that the answer is 'Yes, dammit, read the article' :)

  12. hype? by Mudcathi · · Score: 0, Redundant

    From the article:Only unencrypted MP3 files are easily captured and copied using the MyTunes software, however. Songs purchased from Apple's iTunes store, which are protected by the company's proprietary digital rights management technology, do not work with Zeller's software.

    Sounds like a bit of overhype in the headline to this article.

    --

    "He who throws mud, loses ground." - proverb

  13. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I find your opinions fascinating. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.

  14. Security vs. Evolving Business models by Che+Guevarra · · Score: 1

    This is another exciting event in the evolution of a Business model. There are billions of dollars at stake and it is so interesting to see how this unfolds. The industry (whatever it will be called in the future) is evolving as we watch it. An emerging standard has just been defeated by new technology. The industry thought it had it locked up (itunes), and here they come. I still think they're on the right track, but ultimately, they're f---ed by technology and smart users. When does the truce take place?

    1. Re:Security vs. Evolving Business models by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Scoping, hoping for you to fuck up and slip
      So we can have a reason for fuckin up your shit
      It ain't no muthafuckin peace when they see me
      Cause we never had a muthafuckin peace treaty
      So I know I got to get em with game
      And when I hit em with the game I gotta hit em with this damn thang

  15. This is good... by herrvinny · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    ..so long as it doesn't break any laws. Apple is the good guy here. We don't want the recording companies pissed at Apple. Unfortunately, my confidence in this program is vastly lowered by the "additional notes" section on the bottom of the MyTunes page:

    If you plan on stealing music, do not download this software. If you plan on infringing upon copyrights, do not download this software. Only download this software if you plan on acting responsibly.

    Warranty: There is absolutely no warranty of any kind whatsoever with this software. The software is provided to you "AS-IS", and all risks and losses associated with its use are assumed by you. In no event shall the author of this software, Bill Zeller, be held accountable for any damages or losses that may occur from use or misuse of the software. Use at your own risk.

    And remember, copyright infringement is illegal. If you have any question whether what you're doing constitutes an infringement, visit the RIAA's great anti-piracy website.


    Read that last line there. If that doesn't constitute butt-kissing, I don't know what does. (I preserved the link so just in case the page gets /.'ed, you can still visit the RIAA link.)

    1. Re:This is good... by Reckless+Visionary · · Score: 1

      I'd give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Someone who spent his time writing software to obviously circumvent restrictions he didn't like also obviously is joking when he says the RIAA has a great anti-piracy website. Or, maybe your right and he's a worthless weasel, but I took it as a pretty funny joke.

      --
      I think I'll stop here.
    2. Re:This is good... by Mantorp · · Score: 1
      Read that last line there. If that doesn't constitute butt-kissing, I don't know what does.

      You're right, you don't have the foggiest.

    3. Re:This is good... by supersam · · Score: 1

      If that doesn't constitute butt-kissing, I don't know what does

      Maybe it does! But if he didn't do that, he would've had the RIAA after his butt, sooner rather than later!

      In any case, you seem to have missed the sarcasm in " great anti-piracy website"

  16. Old News.... by rice_web · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's called KaZaa, or Limewire, or [fill in name here].

    Don't forget that Apple actually took this feature away after the RIAA hounds frightened themselves shitless over the potential power of such a system: filesharing that was completely decentralized. So after scaring every recording company, Apple yanked the feature, leaving only local network capabilities.

    If this were to become mainstream, music downloading would certainly become more interesting again. Having full albums, possibly CD art, and the like all included as you drag files over or (at the least) simply streaming MP3s without a centralized network would be an awesome power. Friends would merely share IP addresses and have access to libraries of music, allowing others to view libraries of music and download selectively.

    In fact, there are really only two problems with this system: only being able to download from one user at a time and no simple way of browsing libraries beyond your friends' libraries. All in all however, it makes iTunes a compelling choice as the next KaZaa.

    Now we just need a convenient way to load those pesky protected AAC files....

    --
    The Political Programmer
    1. Re:Old News.... by Have+Blue · · Score: 1

      It was not decentralized. iTunes has no search ability; people were using sites publishing lists of iTunes streams to share music.

    2. Re:Old News.... by rice_web · · Score: 1

      And I actually found out now that the software does not even allow downloading over the internet.

      Ooops.

      Previous software for iTunes on the Mac had allowed this, and I assumed it to be the same.

      --
      The Political Programmer
    3. Re:Old News.... by wanchai · · Score: 1

      > It's called KaZaa, or Limewire, or [fill in name here]. not yet, what are missing: - connect to an outside machine (it was possible with iTunes 4.0 and itunesdl before, then apple make it possible to share music within a LAN), but i don't think this is hard to crack. - when the first item is clear, we should see website/applications like tracker, to list the IP of those library that are shared. - and then we should see applications to search songs by name/artist - and then we should see RIAA sueing those who don't even have iTunes.

  17. Something's not right... by Qweezle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This doesn't seem quite sound...this guy will get shut down. Hell, his own website contradicts him. He says this:

    Tunes is mainly meant to be used as a music manager and means of purchasing music online. However, in addition to purchasing music, one can listen to any of the music shared by others on a network. So, for example, if another person on your network has iTunes and decides to share their music, you can listen to it. iTunes does not allow you to save this music to your hard drive. MyTunes lifts this restriction by allowing you to save music from other computers to your hard drive.

    Then he says, down at the bottom, something of a "disclaimer" which, although I am not a legal specialist, does not sound like it has any legitimacy:

    If you plan on stealing music, do not download this software. If you plan on infringing upon copyrights, do not download this software. Only download this software if you plan on acting responsibly. Warranty: There is absolutely no warranty of any kind whatsoever with this software. The software is provided to you "AS-IS", and all risks and losses associated with its use are assumed by you. In no event shall the author of this software, Bill Zeller, be held accountable for any damages or losses that may occur from use or misuse of the software. Use at your own risk. And remember, copyright infringement is illegal. If you have any question whether what you're doing constitutes an infringement, visit the RIAA's great anti-piracy website.

    He also links to Apple's iTunes website, which has to have some sort of legal implications, seeing as this is a program which can (potentially) be used in malignant ways.

    It'll be interesting to see if Apple tries to do an "over-the-internet auto update" like Microsoft does with its patches, for this, or if they try to guise a fix for this as a "feature upgrade". If they do, they better have some new features. This is exactly what iTunes update to 4.0.1 did for Mac users, when it was discovered people could share music with other exact IP addresses.

    1. Re:Something's not right... by boomerny · · Score: 1

      Apple won't do an update just for this, they didn't when a similar program was released for Mac. They'll just send a cease & desist, and if that doesn't get this guys attention they'll take him to court. Standard operating procedure for Apple.

    2. Re:Something's not right... by Anthony+Boyd · · Score: 0, Redundant
      Then he says, down at the bottom, something of a "disclaimer" which, although I am not a legal specialist, does not sound like it has any legitimacy:

      Actually, that disclaimer strikes me as a smart move. He's encouraging legal uses, and since there really ARE legal uses for such software, he's bound to attract it. Especially the way he's presenting the product. And by additionally linking to the RIAA, he can in good faith (I think) go into any courtroom and realistically tell a judge that his product has substantial legal uses, is not primarily devoted to illegal activities, and that he has taken active steps to portray the product in a responsible manner. Although I've not looked over the actual laws, I do believe there is a law that would protect his product because it has "non-infringing" uses.

    3. Re:Something's not right... by vincent99 · · Score: 1

      If by didn't, you mean specifically did.. iTunes 4.0 did not limit access to the local subnet, you could share anybody's IP. Similar programs to this, and backend programs that created searchable websites you could download off of, and other toys appeared. Apple promptly released 4.0.1, which limits sharing to the local subnet. Now someone slaps together (the protocol is well known and documented now) the same thing for Windows and it's apparently news.

      --
      -- V
    4. Re:Something's not right... by stux · · Score: 1

      If by didn't, you mean specifically did

      Heh

      I just knew that was coming :)

      --

      ---
      Live Long & Prosper \\//_
      CYA STUX =`B^) 'da Captain,
      Jedi & Last *-fytr
    5. Re:Something's not right... by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

      I feel sorry for this guy, i hope hes hidden himself well or hes out of a crappy DMCA country.

      --
      This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
    6. Re:Something's not right... by escallywag · · Score: 1
      ...seeing as this is a program which can (potentially) be used in malignant ways.

      if potential malignant use is really going to become a legal liability RIAA, MPAA and other copyright nazis are going to have to sue everyone that has ever written a FTP server

    7. Re:Something's not right... by EddWo · · Score: 1

      "However, in addition to purchasing music, one can listen to any of the music shared by others on a network. So, for example, if another person on your network has iTunes and decides to share their music, you can listen to it. iTunes does not allow you to save this music to your hard drive."

      In fact iTunes sharing is supposed to be "Personal use only", not shared with other people even on the same subnet. At least thats what it says when you enable sharing on iTunes for Windows. Thats why you can also password protect your share.

      Its clear that most people do allow others to see and play their music collection.
      http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125, 61177,00.html
      Now they will be able to download and store it as well.
      I can only imagine Campus networks will grind to a halt with all the increased network traffic.

      --
      "Taligent is still pure vapor. Maybe they'll be the last who jumps up on Openstep... "
    8. Re:Something's not right... by zpok · · Score: 1

      What doesn't sound right?

      Your vcr and cd-burner come with the same two messages:
      "You can do this and this - potentially illegal acts- and with great ease and panache!"

      And then you get the legal message:
      "This and this is illegal. Don't do anything illegal. We don't condone it - however easy we make it."

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
  18. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I find your opinions fascinating. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.

    Thank you for signing up for the Get Michael Sims Fired From Slashdot Mailing List. I'm Seth Finklestein. I'll be your moderator.

    Please provide your e-mail address. You should know that I routinely provide marketers with the golden opportunity to provide exclusive offers to my mailing list. These transactions give me substantial funds with which to get Michael Sims fired from Slashdot.

    Thank you again for your generous contribution.

    Sincerely,
    Seth Finklestein
    Troll Impostor

  19. So what? by Johnathon_Dough · · Score: 1
    I have three seperate programs that do this already, and never use them. If i see that one of my co-workers is sharing a song i want, i wander over to their desk, or send an e-mail:

    "hey, can you throw ________ onto the server, i want that for my iPod."

    and there you go, i have the original rip/dl

    no news here, continue as you were.

    --
    If you are one in a million, then there are six thousand people who are just like you.
    1. Re:So what? by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 1

      I like the combination of this particular post with your sig:

      "hey, can you throw ________ onto the server, i want that for my iPod."

      No thanks I gave up ________ for lent.


      I'll have to remember that the next time someone asks me to throw something onto the server.

      --

  20. what about ileech? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it rocked while it worked at campus at least

  21. Re:Stupid Geeks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    mod parent up, obviously a stupid mod deemed this a troll but it really looks to me like a well thought out rational post.

  22. thats cool... but... by edrugtrader · · Score: 1

    what about downloading from your friends of friends??

    --
    MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
  23. Re:Mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    WARNING! There is a BACKDOOR PROGRAM hidden in the above executable.

    Do NOT download it. Moderators, please mod this warning up.

  24. fuckin' apologist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    great, just what the world needs. yet another Steve Jobs cock-smoker.

  25. sounds nice! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have iTunes on 2 computers. Last night, I was trying to sync them up. MyTunes sounds like it would have made life easier, since zero-conf networking "just works". As it was, I had to find the mp3s (they're not nicely organized), enable sharing, get shaing to work (sometimes a pain when each computer has a different firewall), and then import the folders.

    1. Re:sounds nice! by fupeg · · Score: 1

      You should let iTunes organize your music for you. It will copy everything into the iTunes directory and organizer by artist/album. You could then setup rsync between the two computers... Hmm, sounds like I've got a new project for this weekend.

    2. Re:sounds nice! by zhenlin · · Score: 1

      Nonsense. The only thing that makes sense in your case is that you're actually trying to share the whole directory structure, which is a Bad Thing.

      iTunes has a builtin sharing feature, where discovery (finding other iTunes shares) is handled by Rendezvous (Zeroconf). Enable sharing in Preferences, open one (1!) port, and poof! All the other iTunes on the local network can see it and use it.

  26. butt kissing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    Read that last line there. If that doesn't constitute butt-kissing, I don't know what does.

    I think you're confusing butt-kissing with nose-thumbing.

  27. This is a bunch of crap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article, I mean-- the description on the guy's page clearly says MyTunes only allows you to download songs from a shared playlist on another computer on the same LAN as yours. If both machines are on the same LAN, you could just as easily copy them via good old fashioned Windows file sharing. There's no controversy to be had here.

    And sure, there are Rendezvous proxy utilities that could be used to overcome the LAN limitation, but for all that trouble you might as well just trade CDs full of MP3s with your buddy, or both just fire up any run-of-the-mill p2p app and browse each other's libraries that way.

  28. Bad and good by erroneus · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Music sharing BAD
    Music buying GOOD

    Are we clear on this?

    1. Re:Bad and good by TheSpoom · · Score: 1

      Music sharing BAD
      Music buying GOOD

      Are we clear on this?


      No?

      How bout this...
      Music buying per-song BAD
      Music service subscription per-month unlimited download GOOD

      See, here's the thing. We have Kazaa. It lets us download free high quality digital music. Now, why would we want to degrade ourselves to paying for music *per track* again? It's my opinion that few people would actually want to do that if they weren't scared into it by the RIAA (which is the wrong approach, anyway).

      However, if music were offered in some sort of lossless format digitally in a subscription service (read: pay per month for unlimited access) that benefitted artists (and wasn't high-cost), I'd probably be interested. The key here is that the music couldn't be DRM'd though, because as I said above, DRM will never work.

      So what's to prevent people from giving the music to their friends instead of actually downloading it? Nothing, I suppose. But if the service were low-cost, subscription-model, and benefitted artists, I suspect more people would be willing to use it.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    2. Re:Bad and good by Hanji · · Score: 1

      Music service subscription per-month unlimited download GOOD

      If you mean that, for as long as I pay a monthly fee, I can download music, and that I continue to have the music after I stop paying this fee, then that's cool for the customer, but seems horribly impractical as a way of making much money - I can download an awful lot of music in a one month period ...

      If you mean a service where you only have access to the music for as long as you pay for it, just no. I don't like the idea of my music disappearing as soon as I decide I no longer want to or are able to pay a monthly fee.

      --
      A Minesweeper clone that doesn't suck
    3. Re:Bad and good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Giving money to your enemy BAD
      Stealing from your enemy GOOD

      The slimes responsible for the DMCA are my enemy. At this point, appeasement will no longer work. It's time to bankrupt the RIAA. Steal, download or buy used if you must have their music, but remember that every song purchased on iTMS prolongs the reign of the RIAA and helps fund more lawsuits.

    4. Re:Bad and good by placeclicker · · Score: 1
      Are we clear on this?
      We might be, but the RIAA sees:

      Music sharing EVIL.
      Music purchase over internet BAD. (Or any place we can't gorge you on prices)
      Music CD purchase GOOD.
      --

      Browse at -1, because trolls are often the most creative part of /.
    5. Re:Bad and good by Lightwarrior · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm certainly not. What constitutes sharing? Playing it for myself alone, but loud enough for the neighbors to hear? Playing it in the car when my friends are listening? Playing it for a room full of people? Playing it for an auditorium full of people?

      Is it my fault if some guy is making a recording without my knowledge?

      What if my computer gets hacked, and my legitimate digital backups are compromised? What if my backup CDs are stolen, but not my original copies? What if I still have the backups if the originals are stolen?

      Can I buy "used" CDs? What about purchasing a "mix" CD? A recording of a concert? Can I sell my "used" CDs? The copies if I destroy the originals? The digital copies if I destroy the originals?

      -lw

      --
      Mods: Disagreeing with me != my post Offtopic / Flamebait.
      World without hate or war, invaded. Tragic?
    6. Re:Bad and good by Johnathon_Dough · · Score: 1
      Except the downside to your theory is that then music won't get made. i will freely admit that there is no problem with this for the majority of crap coming out right now, but, what about the rest?

      you need a model where someone gets paid for making the music AND it bypasses the RIAA.

      --
      If you are one in a million, then there are six thousand people who are just like you.
    7. Re:Bad and good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Except the downside to your theory is that then music won't get made.

      What about all the indies?

      >i will freely admit that there is no problem with this for the majority of crap coming out right now, but, what about the rest?

      There is good RIAA music?

      >you need a model where someone gets paid for making the music AND it bypasses the RIAA.

      My joining an indy label perhaps?

    8. Re:Bad and good by YOU+LIKEWISE+FAIL+IT · · Score: 1
      If you mean that, for as long as I pay a monthly fee, I can download music, and that I continue to have the music after I stop paying this fee, then that's cool for the customer, but seems horribly impractical as a way of making much money - I can download an awful lot of music in a one month period ...

      eMusic had this. For about the price of two cd's a month, it was all you could eat. One of my friends was a subscriber, and with his downstream 'all you could eat' was quite a lot.

      Now, there wasn't a lot of great stuff... but if you're not getting charged by the disc, there's no harm in experimenting ( and show me another online music service that features Arab on Radar and is associated with Matador Records, the New Pornographers label ).

      Sadly, last month they changed the terms of service - at least for some users ( including my Friend ). Unlimited downloads are a thing of the past, and you get about two albums a month for the same price as before. At that rate, you might as well buy A list stuff from the record store.

      Perhaps they were only targeting high usage users - there's nothing about the change on the frontpage ( no surprises there... ), but the free lunch appears to be over.

      YLFI
      P.S. Oh yeah, their download manager for OSX sucks hard.
      --
      One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
    9. Re:Bad and good by geekoid · · Score: 1

      we had music before the recording industry, we'll have music afterwords. at least afterword it will be made by people in it for the music, not the money.

      I saw a guy not to long ago, playing some great rifts. he was making money, pretty good from the looks of it. He as standing on a street corner getting paid by people who liked his music.

      Million dollar cantracts may go away, but music will not, it is intrinsic to be a human being.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    10. Re:Bad and good by ChreodeRiot · · Score: 1

      Music will continue to get made no matter what.

      I've been a musician for 21 years and for some of those years i've made a living of it. Whether i was making a profit or not, I continue to make music and record. It's what i do. it's what any true musician does. If we didn't have this huge industry all we would lose is the machine cramming insincere bullshit at us all the time. Music is more available than ever, which is the ultimate point. Most musicians get screwed over by the machine anyway, some of whom never come back.

      In any case musicians realize at this point that the revenue model is changing and the real money is to be made in touring (and merchandise) (where it was for most musicians anyway). Times are changing, go with the flow, get used to it.

  29. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Certainly, sir, my email address is qtpie16@aol.com. I look forward to recieving your newsletter, and also the exciting purchasing opportunities. Thank you for your time.

  30. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The only "feature" that 4.1.2 will add: you guessed it, the disablement of MyTunes.

    And 4.1.1 will no longer work in the Music Store.

    Count on it.

  31. You wanna talk about defeated tech? by Che+Guevarra · · Score: 1

    I'll tell you about defeated technology, we used to put Mac OS 7.5 up against Windows 3 and it was hard. Hard! Man! Now we're swinging swords for iTunes and hackers? F--- hackers, I'm talking about rip-offs of 8-track tapes on my casset tape player. Damn you, fools! I've got a cassette tape ripped from an 8-track of Styx in my Cabriolette at this very moment ... and it's CRANKED! Ya'all don't know piracy! Ya don't!!!! Get down with the brother who once played Zork for 45 straight hours.... Can't deal with ya'all no more.

  32. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry, AOL members are not permitted to join. Please establish an account with a more Freedom-conscious Internet Service Provider.

    Sincerely,
    Seth Finklestein
    Troll Impostor

  33. I HOPE Apple disables this... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1, Insightful
    "I predict that within 48 hours, Apple will release iTunes 4.1.2. The only "feature" that 4.1.2 will add: you guessed it, the disablement of MyTunes."


    Filesharing of copyrighted material, in most cases is wrong...end of story...

    Sure, limited swapping of music amongst friends (mix tapes, party mixes) is absolutely 'fair use', no question, but no one believes programs like this or iTunesDL have any other use than the wholesale theft of music that the user has not payed for...

    I would make one important exception -- something that we had, but lost due to just this type of wrongheaded thinking -- sharing your own music with yourself remotely...iTunes had this originally and it was removed because of abuse...so you already fucked it up for us...
    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    1. Re:I HOPE Apple disables this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I work in an office with dozens of people I know and trust. The RIAA says it's legal to make copies of music to distribute amongst friends. MyTunes lets me exercise my right to download. How is this "abuse"?

    2. Re:I HOPE Apple disables this... by gcaseye6677 · · Score: 1

      In other words, sharing is only OK if it is not in digital form? If I share something on my LOCAL network of about 15 people, as opposed to making a CD and playing it so that 15 people can hear it, what's the difference? If nobody spreads it outside of the LAN, there is none. Sorry to bust your anti-piracy jihad, but this is simply not 'wholesale theft'.

    3. Re:I HOPE Apple disables this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (cough) paid for (cough) not "payed"

  34. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is what you get for trusting closed-source software.

    I use JuK. It's just as good as iTunes, but it's open source so you know they won't pull any crap like this.

  35. Gosh dang farking heartless Winblows Pirates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With the first release of iTunes 4, Apple allowed "sharing" of libraries and playlist, they quickly released an update that limited this feature to the subnet that iTunes is on. Though with the proper software and know-how it is easy to bypass this limitation if one is so inclined to share their home iTunes with their work iTunes or allow friends to connect to a shared library.

    However this MyTunes works in a different way that allows people to copy (not stream or "share") music from others iTunes libraries. To "copy" a copyrighted work would be illegal and this software only makes it easier for all you dang Windows users to steal music.

    Apple made a calculated risk by releasing iTunes for Windows (basically for Windows iPod users) and now the Windows community pays them back with a nice little Piracy Enabling POS. Thanks alot, you jackas$es.

    Perhaps the author of this program is secretly employed by one of iTunes competitors as a way of getting the RIAA upset with Apple.

    I can only hope that this MyTunes thing is used for legitimate uses and not used to turn iTunes into a new music piracy program. At least it doesn't allow stealing of AAC FairPlay files purchased from iTunes Music Store, just files that the user added to their library that were obtained from another source (ie. a CD, Kazaa, etc.)

  36. Re:Stupid Geeks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stop replying to your own posts! That's how Schizophrenia starts!

  37. STUPID IDIOT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Explain to me how MY COMMENT IS REDUNDANT.

    Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.

  38. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dear Coward:

    That's my e-mail address, dumbshit.

    Sincerely,
    Seth Finklestein
    Anonymous Imitator -- Do Not Trust

  39. just as good by SweetAndSourJesus · · Score: 1

    1) Looks like ass to me.

    2) No music store.

    3) Requires KDE.

    4) No, really, it looks like ass.

    Also, sweet fucking christ that web page is terrible. Pink on green? Green text on a green background? Did they hire a monkey on a five day crack binge to design that?

    --

    --
    the strongest word is still the word "free"
    1. Re:just as good by be-fan · · Score: 1

      The guy is using a weird theme/color scheme. The program looks much prettier in real life with a decent theme.

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    2. Re:just as good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Looks good to me.
      2. No DRM. This is a good thing.
      3. KDE is good.
      4. No, really, with a decent theme it looks great.

    3. Re:just as good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please stop. Aqua and brushed metal thingy looks like shit. Long time *nix users have been tehere with enlightenment. Most of us liked it 3 weeks. Then it looked like shit. Now we like clean interfaces. In 5 years Apple ill probably understand that too.

      Did I forgot to say how much Aqua sucks..

      IT LOOKS LIKE SHIT!

  40. I like it by PortWineBoy · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've been using it this week and like it quite a bit. My company has about 8 iTunes users on my local subnet and I have been "borrowing" all week long. It isn't exactly feature rich and you must start playing a song to make it available for download. Otherwise, it's nifty!

    --

    this sig deleted by another sig

    1. Re:I like it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would this constitute a legal admission of repeated copyright infringement?
      Off to jail then... and see what the 'sisters' there can "borrow"...
      thief once is a thief forever!

    2. Re:I like it by PortWineBoy · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately not. Looks like Hackers took control of my computer and made that post. Damn those Hackers.

      --

      this sig deleted by another sig

  41. whoop dee doo by lavaface · · Score: 1

    Here's a better way to share your music library over a local network: For Apple, enable Appletalk and make your music folder public. In Windows, share the folder with the network. Now, you can drag & drop. Or, just put a selected tune in your public folder if someone asks you for it. Faster than realtime.

    1. Re:whoop dee doo by reiggin · · Score: 2, Informative
      What you suggest doesn't allow encoded or DRM files to be copied or used. This myTunes (as well as the previous Mac software, no longer available) does is record the audio stream as it is played, effectively nullifying any DRM. Nifty, but it'll be gone in a few days.

      "Say hello to Apple Legal."

    2. Re:whoop dee doo by vegetablespork · · Score: 1

      Software that's suppressed with the DMCA won't "be gone in a few days." It'll just be downloadable on P2P networks with all the other suppressed software like DeCSS, bnetd, etc.

      --

      Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.

    3. Re:whoop dee doo by reiggin · · Score: 1

      Um, Apple can patch their software to prevent "piggybacking."

    4. Re:whoop dee doo by Anonnymous+Coward · · Score: 1

      They can cause a war of escalation--if another iTunes client can play the song, then a client can be written to spoof iTunes and grab the song.

    5. Re:whoop dee doo by EddWo · · Score: 1

      No, it doesn't.
      It doesn't allow DRM files to be played back without authorisation.
      It doesn't record the audio stream as it plays. (at least no in the way that the loopback driver things do)
      Instead it allows you to save to your disc and songs that are shared on another users itunes.

      This is still more convenient than using a file share becase the other users libraries are automatically detected and their databases can be indexed and searched much more quickly within itunes itself.

      It is also more secure than having an open file share, as iTunes only open one port and does not allow files to be modified on the server.

      --
      "Taligent is still pure vapor. Maybe they'll be the last who jumps up on Openstep... "
  42. Re:The loser: the consumer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Dad?

  43. What NEW does this product do by fermion · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As far as I know you can already share a folder (read only) and allow anyone on a network to copy the music and you can already stream music through iTunes to anyone on a network. The only question would be if is these things are sufficiently harder on a Windows machine to require a special program?

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  44. Stealing is good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love stealing, its easy and fun and exciting!

    Don't get me wrong, I would love to pay for things buy every company overcharges. If KIA can make an under 10k car and still turn a profit, then BMW is ripping everyone off, just like the RIAA! Car are mainly build by robots these days so don't give me that FUD about working losing their jobs, they lost their jobs a long time ago.

  45. You could do this before, even on windows or linux by RalphBNumbers · · Score: 4, Informative

    In addition to iTunesDL, mentioned in the article for mac, there's iSlurp which does basically the same thing in platform independent java. and has been out for six months.

    But now we have a bunch of hype and publicity.
    So the Record companies are probably going to give apple shit and force more limitations down our throats, just like when Apple had to limit iTunes to sharing on the local network only.

    Good job people.

    --
    "The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
  46. IN YOUR FACE SLASHDOT EFFECT! by Broadband · · Score: 1

    It's it sad that when i came across that article at work I thought to myseld, "Self, you better download this little program before you can't access the site" I'm now a happy owner of a file none of you can get that I have no intention of even using tonight

    Cheers :) Oh and if it gets bad i'm sure i can put up a bittorrent for yall

  47. Slashdot Editor?!??!!!?!!?!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF?! The correct term is Slashdot Janitor.

  48. 64 kbps by fupeg · · Score: 2, Informative

    All this thing does is copy the stream that is coming across Rendezvous. That stream is limited at 64 kbps. Even if you were streaming non-protected AAC files, this is a pretty power quality copy, similar to copying a CD to a tape.

    1. Re:64 kbps by Drakonian · · Score: 1
      Ummm, I might be missing something but I really doubt it. I think you are mixing up the bandwidth with the bitrate of the file. They have very little to do with each other.

      Looking at the MyTunes site confirms my suspicions:

      The CNET story on MyTunes described it as a "stream capturer". This is wrong. MyTunes allows you to obtain the exact original file, unlike "stream capturers", which record music that's streaming and save the recorded audio to disk.

      --
      Random is the New Order.
    2. Re:64 kbps by illumin8 · · Score: 1

      I think you're incorrect. iTunes is not transcoding my VBR mp3 files down to 64k in real time just to stream them to a client over the LAN. If it was doing this, not only would I notice that the sound quality would suck, but the CPU usage on my main PC would be through the roof. I'm not even sure if my P4 2.6 ghz. could transcode in realtime to more than 1 or 2 clients.

      --
      "When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." - Richard M. Nixon
    3. Re:64 kbps by laird · · Score: 1

      "iTunes is not transcoding my VBR mp3 files down to 64k in real time just to stream them"

      This is correct. The "streamed" files are identical to the files on disk, in their original encoding, with metadata and DRM intact. This is more like "file downloading" without the files being saved to disk than it is like traditional "streaming".

    4. Re:64 kbps by clarkcox3 · · Score: 1
      That is wrong on two points:
      1. iTunes doesn't limit the bitrate of the shared music in any way
      2. MyTunes copies the whole file, it doesn't capture streams. The file that comes out of MyTunes is identical to the original in every way.
      --
      There are no tiger attacks in my area and it's all because this rock I'm holding keeps the tigers away.
  49. The loser: Me by Therlin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Great. Pretty soon Apple will disable this option and I will not be able to use iTunes simple zero-conf mp3 sharing. I loved opening my iTunes from another computer and listen to my songs. The loser: Me.

    In the meanwhile all the kiddies will keep using Kazaa to get their songs.

    1. Re:The loser: Me by Captain_Chaos · · Score: 1

      Why would Apple do that? They give away iTunes away for free, so why should they have a problem if you access it over the network with a different program instead of with another copy of iTunes, as long as you don't hack iTunes or otherwise encroach on their business model?

    2. Re:The loser: Me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the meanwhile all the kiddies will keep using Kazaa to get their songs.

      Ouch!

      And it's so true...

      I hate them little kiddie bastards...

    3. Re:The loser: Me by Therlin · · Score: 1

      What's good about iTunes is how easy it makes it to share the songs. Launch iTunes and there they all, all the songs from my other computer, all within the iTunes interface (the search is great.)

      iTunes for Mac used to let you share songs over the Internet. You could open your iTunes at work and listen to your songs stored at home. People too advantage of that as well, and Apple disabled it.

      It's always the same, a few abuse something cool and the rest get punished for it.

  50. Great Anti-Piracy Site by c_oflynn · · Score: 2, Funny

    I like when the RIAA says this:

    Plus, good luck returning a pirated tape or CD when the quality is inferior or the product is defective, as it often is.

    I think it should actually read:
    Plus, good luck returning a legal tape or CD when the CD doesn't conform to CD standards or play on your CD player, as it often is.

  51. MyTunes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know Bill Zeller, the creator of this program.. he's just a regular college kid at Trinity College. I'm not exactly sure how he did what he did, but the general idea is that he packet sniffed the auth-id that itunes sends back and forth, and used it to download songs while it is still valid. You only need to trick itunes into making the request, which the program packet sniffs, and then reproduces so it can download the mp3. On a personal note, I've found Mr Zeller to be somewhat rash at times, I.E. Posting this program. I think he's in for a lot of shit that he doesnt need as a hardworking student at this college.

  52. Should it not be called... by Slashdot+Junky · · Score: 2, Funny

    Should it not be called HisOrHerTunes instead of MyTunes? After all, if downloaded from someone else, they aren't mine as in MyTunes. Even better, the software could probably be called, WeDon'tKnowWhoLegallyObtainTheseFirstTunes.

    Later,
    -Slashdot Junky

    --
    .
    Landfill Mining Co.
    Managing the (Un)natural Resources of Tomorrow
    1. Re:Should it not be called... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bravo!

  53. YOU GOTTA READ THIS! - MYTUNES DEVELOPER SPEAKS by greenstork · · Score: 1

    MyTunes developer name: billzeller my username: greenstork Here's the link, this is what the developer had to say in the Macrumors forum: Macrumors Forum, go to page 3

    1. Re:YOU GOTTA READ THIS! - MYTUNES DEVELOPER SPEAKS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Here's the link
      No. No, it is not.
  54. Here's what the Developer had to say by greenstork · · Score: 0, Redundant

    MyTunes developer name: billzeller my username: greenstork Here's the link, this is what the developer had to say in the Macrumors forum:

  55. uh huh by SweetAndSourJesus · · Score: 1

    1) In #3 you say KDE is good. This does nothing for your credibility as a judge of aesthetics.

    2) DRM BAD!!! We can just steal whatever we need. Information wants to be stolen!

    3) See #1. Also, KDE is a bitch to set up on a Mac, and I'm not sure it can be done on Windows at all.

    4) Also see #1.

    --

    --
    the strongest word is still the word "free"
  56. MyTunes developer said this by greenstork · · Score: 1

    MyTunes developer name: billzeller my username: greenstork Here's the link, this is what the developer had to say in the Macrumors forum: Link

    1. Re:MyTunes developer said this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reading that reminds me that the vast majority of Mac users are servile idiots who think they're smarter than everybody else but in fact could be the dumbest collection of protoplasm in the solar system.

      When I read the drivel of "Oh dear, this is so baaaad because it will make the RIAA mad! Windows users are so dishonest! I'm glad Mac users are so nice"

      These people should be loaded into a giant rocket, and shot straight into the sun. They are part of a branch of evolution that missed the chromosome that gives people a "backbone".

  57. Once again the consumer is shown to be evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone claims the RIAA is evil, but once again we see that the RIAA is the victim. They try to give concessions to Apple to sell music online, and consumers set up a system to screw them over. Nice job.

  58. Does it work with radio streams as well? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does anyone know if it records the radio streams in iTunes as well?

  59. sharing iTunes over NAT LAN? by professorhojo · · Score: 1

    g'day,

    the faq says "if you can't see the other shared computer, then this software won't be of any use to you."

    now... we have 2 computers hanging off a billion router which i believe does NAT automatically for us. neither iTunes can see the other.

    does anyone have any ideas on how to make it work like it should?

    all the best, prof.h

    1. Re:sharing iTunes over NAT LAN? by sld126 · · Score: 1

      As mentioned above...

      Rendezvous proxy to make the zeroconf protocol routable.

      --
      You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me.
  60. OFFTOPIC - iTunes & Wine by Verence · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Anybody have success with iTunes and Wine? I keep getting stuck at 'unable to create folder .... inside of ...." referencing the Music folder creation. SHouldn't be a problem - installed in a windows partition and used same registry to run under Wine. Anyone?

    --

    ... that's all i wrote...
  61. Re: as compeling as Kaaza? by King_TJ · · Score: 1

    Personally, I never found Kaaza even remotely "compelling", considering all the spyware/adware it loads your PC up with as part of the install.

    Furthermore, if you *are* going to engage in "illegal MP3 file trading" over the Internet - it only makes sense to use the most obscure product and network possible for the activity. I wouldn't choose a tool like Morpheus or Kaaza that *everyone* seems to be well aware of!

  62. Re:Stupid Geeks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree. And so do I.

  63. Re:Music isn't the only thing you can share with i by momerath2003 · · Score: 1

    Who modded this informative?

    You can't share other stuff with iTunes! That's nonsense! iTunes' music sharing works by sending an MP3/AAC stream to the other computers. It doesn't just do a blanket file copy without regard to file type or whatever.

    If anything, the parent should be modded troll for making such an inane comment pretending to know what he's talking about.

    --
    I had but a simple dream, to destroy all humans.
  64. take a look around by appleLaserWriter · · Score: 0, Troll

    Worms everywhere.

    Steve must have opened the can.

  65. You can support music without supporting the RIAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go to live shows. Almost all of that money goes straight to the band, and not the label. While you're there, buy a T-shirt. Buy CDs from your local unsigned bands; there's usually at least one store in town that sells independant music.

  66. can this be used to convert AAC files? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I have an AAC file on my playlist, can someone on my LAN convert it to MP3 and then share it back to me?

  67. Re: as compeling as Kaaza? by YOU+LIKEWISE+FAIL+IT · · Score: 1

    This has long been argued about amongst p2p freaks - why doesn't "the herd" follow quality and get behind good p2p software? The answer is: people will go where the content is: more users means more sources means more diversity means less time twiddling your thumbs and waiting for a download.

    Once a given application obtains sufficient market inertia, it's almost impossible to wrench control away without shutting down the network entirely ( c.f. musiccity, napster ). And KaZaa has signifigant market inertia - its practically become synonymous in most peoples minds with peer to peer trading.

    YLFI
    --
    One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
  68. MIRROR by phreak03 · · Score: 1

    Please someone post a mirror, everyone at my school (baylor) uses itunes for music because kazza is banned and they cracked down on waste (yes they are that evil, but they couldn't prove anything) I would greatly apreciate a torrent/e2klink/filemirror

    --
    come comment on the madness at http://slashdot.org/~phreak03/journal/
  69. Re:You could do this before, even on windows or li by self+assembled+struc · · Score: 3, Informative

    of course, if you'd read the iSlurp page you'd see that it no longer works with anything post 4.0

    LIke 4.0.1 where Apple started doing key passing and he doesn't want to violate the DMCA.

    So, you really can't use iSlurp unless you use old copies of iTunes.

  70. Like it was yesterday.... by unity · · Score: 1

    "Once upon a time, slashdot was entirely independent."

    Damn have I been reading /. that long.....

  71. Official bittorrent provided by zelphi · · Score: 2, Informative

    An official bittorrent file of MyTunes can be downloaded here:

    http://www.drunkenaardvark.com/MyTunes.exe.torrent

  72. Just goes to show... by vonsneerderhooten · · Score: 1

    That windows is bad. When iTunes was exclusively for mac, any cross-network-P2P carried along almost silently. Not even a month after ITFW(iTunes 4 Win) was released, there is a program written to exploit the trust upon which the iTunes was founded. Just as one poster already pointed out, everyone loses. The Fscking RIAA will perpetuate the idea that no download DRM-less network is safe(which is true, because there's always some asshole willing to betray the trust of the ones who put the trust out there). Apple offers what most people want, or at least settle for, a network where one can buy and download clean audio with no DRM. Apple sees that it's a success, and attempts to broaden their market by porting the service to W32. [too drunk to finish my rant]

    1. Re:Just goes to show... by generic-man · · Score: 1

      iTunesDL for Mac predates iTunes for Windows. I know a few Mac users who happily download copyrighted music, software, serial numbers, etc.

      --
      For more information, click here.
  73. This Time, Open Source = Termination by ablair · · Score: 2, Insightful

    MyTunes going open source is actually a bad move in this case. Hacks & a more broad functionality for MyTunes will likely be accelerated by going open source. While another app or two is required to get full-fledged Kazaa-like sharing over the internet currently, this would be quickly integrated into an open source MyTunes. OSS development would probably keep ahead of any desperate attempts by Apple engineers to restrict illegal file-sharing by iTunes users, including AAC files.

    What would be the result of this? Major labels terminating their license agreements with Apple to sell music via iTMS, certainly. iTunes subsequently waning in utility & popularity as other players catch up with iTunes while still offering secure online music purchases (these also eventually fall prey to their own myTunes if they get popular enough). Either Apple and others exit market leaving us where we started before all this, or hardware-enforced DRM (such as Palladium) gets a further boost from this obvious example of the dangers of lax DRM.

    Good job! Net result will be a worse future than present. Yeah, yeah, OSS = Good; Proprietary = Evil, etc etc. In the practical world we live in, open source may actually hurt the market & consumer choice in this case.

    1. Re:This Time, Open Source = Termination by jafuser · · Score: 1

      What would be the result of this? Major labels terminating their license agreements with Apple to sell music via iTMS, certainly. iTunes subsequently waning in utility & popularity

      And the RIAA would just love to throw a big "I told you so" back at the 'Net.

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
  74. Re:Stupid Geeks by zhenlin · · Score: 1

    Sometimes - they don't think about the consequences of releasing such a product deeply enough.

    I get the feeling the MyTunes author did this for ego-inflation, knowing full well that this is exactly the type of program wanted by the masses.

    MyTunes, as far as I can tell - is just a DAAP client, that instead of keeping the audio data only in RAM, writes it into a file instead.

    As far as I can tell, DAAP is not streaming - requests are fulfilled with the whole file as is stored in the library - the potential for MyTunes has been there for a long time - what's worse: it's easier to write a MyTunes-type DAAP client than a iTunes-type DAAP client.

  75. More than one by emkman · · Score: 1

    Hes kissing the RIAA's ass on the surface, which is a good idea for obvious legal reasons. But he really means it to be satire, on the inside, and the RIAA cant prove otherwise. Thats my take anyway.

    --
    Moderation Totals: Flamebait=2, Troll=1, Redundant=1, Insightful=6, Overrated=1, Underrated=1, Total=12. (not mine)
  76. TotalRecorder by Otto · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, that page is talking about TotalRecorder. It's available here: http://www.highcriteria.com/

    It's only $12, so it's not like he's charging a lot for it. It does have some nifty features. First, yeah, it sticks a driver in so that it can capture sound data directly. But it's got some other coolness to it, actually.

    -The 30 second auto-buffer lets you hit record after the song has started and still get the song.
    -Choose your own format, of course. But it can send the data to an encoder too (Ogg, LAME, whatever) before saving it off to disc.
    -Detection of the beginning and ends of sound being played so as to trim the silences and save into separate files automagically if you so choose (works surprisingly well).
    -Suppress system beeps and such while it's recording, so you don't get those in the resulting file.
    -Timer based recording so that you can have it record a daily radio show or something similar.

    And some other nifty stuff. It's rather well thought out, actually. It's worth the $12 if you want to convert virtually any DRMed format to something a little less protected. But it's worth the $12 not because it simply saves the stuff to disc like some free drivers might be capable of doing, but because it's a good program overall with some good effort put into it.

    Oh, it works with iTunes too. Just change QuickTime's playback settings to "Playback through TotalRecorder" and it works just fine.

    --
    - Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
  77. Whats wrong? by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

    This doesnt change anything, people don't just pay iTunes because they have no other choice - they pay because they are scared to shit for the RIAA breaking down their door and smashing their heads into the computer screen. Oh and some might be paying because they want to. But the point is even though iTunes made a stupid mistake, pay sites are still here and people can continue to pay so everyone is a happy little bunny.

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  78. In Other News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    someone else has written another programme that allows you to share music - or any other kind - files, in any format you like, with anyone who has an IP address.

  79. Stop this nonsense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are always people like you who like to get an online platform and push your goofy self-righteous views.

    While I wish you no ill, I pray to jesus that you lose the ability to connect to any online source. You're a big windbag, and the one thing this world doesn't need is YABW (Yet Another Big Windbag).

  80. Another joke of a human by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Apple is the good guy here"

    I don't think you're a real person. Apple is no more a good guy than Microsoft. The only difference is Apple is a smaller company and doesn't have a monopoly.

    You are a needy person who needs to believe that people and things conform to a certain world view.

    They don't. Get over it that companies like apple don't give a shit about anything other than making profit. Let me repeat that, because you appear stupid. Companies like apple don't give a shit about anything other than making profit. If apple could make money throwing babies into the fire with a pitchfork, they'd do it, but they'd put together a great marketing campaign around it to make shallow people (like yourself), think its "cool".

  81. I wish people like you didn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do you think iTunes was released? To make money.

    Why do you think Apple exists? To make money.

    Why do you think copying files across a network is "stealing". Because the RIAA told you so. That doesn't mean its illegel.

    But you think you've got some special magic with iTunes. You're an idiot with a computer. Let me say that again because it needs to be said. You're an idiot with a computer.

    Apple didn't do anyone a favor by releasing iTunes, iPods, or any other crap they make. And yes, I own a fucking ipod, but its certainly not a special gift from Apple. Its just a way to listen to music, not a fucking religion.

    Please just go away. You make me scared for the human race.

  82. Terminal.app by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mount the iPod as a harddrive and navigate to it using a terminal window and you can copy mp3s off of it without any problem. It's gotta work fairly similar on a Windows machine. So, someone wrote a GUI based version of what can be done easily enough, big deal.

  83. The RIAA does NOT say that... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1
    And it's not the RIAA, it's Copyright law...

    Most of the fair use provisions are highly specific exemptions from copyright liability that Congress has enacted to encourage, or at least to allow, certain behavior. These specific exemptions from liability can be found in Section 108 through 120 of the Copyright Act. The catch-all provision, which is the provision generally being referred to when the term "fair use" is used, is section 107. This catch-all fair use provision specifically provides a safe harbor for what would otherwise be infringing activities if such activities are engaged in for the purpose of teaching, scholarship and research.


    Granted, we have all gotten away with 'sharing' music with friends and co-workers over the years, but realize that the scale and nature of 'sharing' is vastly different today for most people...mind you, I don't care, I am not saying this from a high moral ground, I am simply stating the facts and I don't believe the way to change some laws you do not like is to be unlawful...vote differently, participate in your country's IP dialog, but don't be un-informed.
    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
  84. No, in most cases... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    ...sharing anything with 15 people is wrong...now 'wrong' is a loaded word, I agree, but as I said, this 'feature' existed in iTunes originally, the ability to stream to a limited group of friends...this was removed because programs like iTunesDL broke the agreed upon trust, and allowed people to download the music being broadcast -- not fair...

    So, yes, I do think personally you should be able to 'play' your music for a group of friends/co-workers, but that is not what this program is really about...

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
  85. Thanks... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    I was hurriedly 'opine-ing' as my wife was giving me the 'It's time to go look'...Thanks for looking out ;)...

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
  86. Here I am, an Ignorant Aardvark, and all I do is post to Slashdot. Meanwhile, a Drunken Aardvark still manages to write a new piece of software. Hmmm, maybe I should drink more ...

  87. Sorry, I was under the impression... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    that we all were 'self-righteous YABW's'...but anyway...

    That's some way of showing no "ill will"...

    Regarding your hope that I not connect with any online source...what a ridiculous idea...I hope I can clarify -- I believe in the right for an artist to be compensated for her work. Crucify me...

    'Sharing' in today's terms is not really what we term sharing from oh, say 1970. I know it is an unpopular view, but I believe it is accurate. Programs such as this behave like 'corporate veil' defenses..."I just want to share the music with a couple of friends..." really means, "I just want to release the music into the wild without the copyright holders consent..."

    Now, I have said it before, I believe most musicians should make their money touring, etc... however, I don't believe that civil disobedience in this case is the practice of consuming copyright content and not compensating those who legally should be compensated...If you don't like the practices of the RIAA, the Record companies and the Artists who sell their rights to said companies, don't listen to the music represented by them. That means don't be two-faced and download the music you enjoy, pretending you are doing something radical or meaningful by doing so...you are not, you are stealing...

    p.s. While I wish you no ill, Jesus is Santa Claus...HAND...

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    1. Re:Sorry, I was under the impression... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can call it what you want. Changing laws is a fools game because people will never be good at it. Corporations will get them changed faster than you, and it will always be for their benefit.

      Consumer law only gets changed when people feel pain.

      So we can go two ways with this....wink at draconian laws and hope enough common people get pissed off to call their representative or break the financials of the situation.

      Its like 55 MPH speed limit. Stupid, ineffective, but stayed because states and locals made money for speeding tickets. Insurance companies made money by raising rates. But people ignored it. They were CRIMINALS. Heavens to betsy. BFD. They broke the law. Laws should be broken when they're stupid. Ignore stupid laws. They will get changed when everybody ignores them. Happens every time.

      I copy my buddy's CDs. All the time. I don't care if its illegal. You can call it stealing. Let me be clear. I don't care. I encourage everybody to do this not because its an act of heroism but because it breaks down the existing financial system that is flawed.

      Will artists get hurt? Lets think this through. If Brittany Spears, or Phil Collins, Or Beance, or Puff Daddy never make another dime. I don't care. I don't wish them any ill will, but it isn't my reponsibility to keep them in luxury. The smaller artist may be hurt, but they're being hurt anyway. The path to help for these guys isn't more people buying from the existing flawed model, its to break it down and throw it away.

      As to your being a windbag, you are a windbag. You pretend to hold the moral high ground and trot out the artists like you speak for them. You're a bullshitter with an attitude. I'm only wasting my time typing this so other people understand that your position is fundamentally the same as the RIAA's and is thus flawed and should be ignored.

      So please, take a glass of coca-cola and pour it in your computer and cancel your ISP. I wish you good health and long life. But I wish your computer and access goes away so we don't have to listen to your windbaggery.

  88. Re:Mirror by zpok · · Score: 1

    explain yourself.

    The mirror exe is different from the developer's exe?
    All exe's have a backdoor program?

    --
    I think, therefore I am...I think.
  89. Share Foreign Audio Formats To iTunes by coral256 · · Score: 1

    This entire effort seems misguided. If one wanted to share one's MP3 collection for the purpose of copying, one could simply create a shared network folder.

    Much more useful would be a server which creates a "virtual" AAC or MP3 collection which can then be played back in iTunes. The nicest things about iTunes are a.) its interface (including live search) and b.) its iPod compatibility. But its support for formats other than MP3/AAC/WAV--most notably FLAC, as contrasted with foobar2000 or Winamp, is sorely lacking. By contrast, foobar2000 and Winamp, have much less aesthetically pleasing interfaces and no iPod support. So, a daemon which did on the fly conversion of, say FLAC to MP3, would permit playback and transfer of your lossless audio collection in iTunes or another other device which supports ZeroConfig (such as Tivo Home Media Option). And that server daemon could be implemented as a plugin to either foobar or Winamp.

  90. Article headline is wrong by azav · · Score: 1

    The program allows mp3 STREAMING over itunes on windows, not mp3 DOWNLOADING

    This is as bad as television shows where they often confuse uploading with downloading. To TV, everything that involves information transfer and a computer = downloading.

    Morons.

    --
    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
  91. iTunes Authentication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It must watch the net traffic to catch the iTunes authentication headers. I'll bet that's why MyTunes needs to be started before iTunes, then you need to start streaming the song so it can capture the URL. From there, the files can be downloaded by DAAP (using the HTTP protocol). Basically, if you share music in iTunes, you're putting a web server up on port 3689.

  92. Re: as compeling as Kaaza? by jafuser · · Score: 1

    Shareaza is now the best. It's freeware with no spyware, and it supports P2P transfers on Gnutella, Gnutella2, eDonkey, BitTorrent, etc all simultaneously in one interface...

    Unfortunatly to many who read here, it's a Win32 app.

    The only thing that I've wondered for some time now is that I don't know what the motivation is behind developing this application for free other than to establish the Gnutella2 network... But that even seems like a lot of work considering how much work has been put into interfacing with the other networks...

    --
    Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
  93. Again, I think we are missing each other... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    I don't want to immediately have this devolve into a shouting match so I will try to systematicaly address your points because I am not a self-righteous person and would like to understand your position, as it has never been persuasively explained to me...maybe you don't care, but anyways

    People are not at the mercy of corporations...you are free to not participate, to not support those who choose to participate, eg. artists who don't 'sell out' -- they will not have sold their rights to their works, and you will never infringe upon anyone's rights in sharing/enjoying their labors and consequently you will never be in a position to be persecuted(reasonably) for your activities. Think indy rock/underground/local punk scene/etc...To think otherwise is unneccesarily defeatist/alarmist.

    55MPH -- Should we have no speed limits? I say that facetiously, obviously...surely there are times where we need 25MPH zones, eg. around schools, on narrow roads. Conversely, while I agree that 55MPH might be ten or twenty miles slower than what today might seem reasonable, I see the merit in having some law regarding speed and safety. Also, having known a number of Police over the years, I know that They are generally forgiving within that reasonable range ( +10-15 MPH) -- similarly, no one is going after reasonable fair use -- generally, it is egregious 'sharers' who are targeted for fines and litigation.

    Copying your buddy's CD -- I agree, see above...Historically, such use while not technically 'legal' was tolerated. I would NOT call it stealing, I am reasonable, and have, like you copied the occasional CD and vice-versa. Today, that is not the same as 'file-sharing' -- the wholesale free-distribution of content that is not paid for.

    As a quick side note, I am a vocal supporter of legalizing low-fidelity (aka radio quality or

    Artists getting hurt -- Brittany, Phil, Beoncey, Puff...If you are not the one downloading their works then you are not hurting them...but what are you downloading? -- whose labor are you enjoying for free? They are the artists whose work you enjoy and yet you actively choose to harm them...with fans like you who needs enemies? At least the labels and RIAA pretend to pay them for their work (occasionally they do get a check or two).

    Me being a windbag -- I guess...I am writing this reply, so you are probably right -- your reasons are not right though...I do not pretend to hold the high ground -- I have the artists (many of whom I know) best interests in mind -- I want to make sure they are compensated for their work TODAY...I also believe in changing the system, but boy, todays artists sure make good cannon foder for most other folks in this war for tomorrow...

    You are the bullshiter...you simply want something for nothing and provide no improved model or means for artists to make a living. You are the one who's views should be ignored.

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    1. Re:Again, I think we are missing each other... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shut the fuck up!!!! Shhht! Shhht! Shhht! Shut it!!

    2. Re:Again, I think we are missing each other... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could you be any more boring?

      Here's a tip. Disable your network connection, open Notepad, and type your verbose commentary. Save it in a temp directory. From time to time, open it and read through it.

      That's about the same audience that's interested in reading what you just wrote.

  94. Re:Mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, the mirror EXE is different from the regular EXE. The real one, from the main site, is 1413941 bytes, while this one is 1345311 bytes. Trend Micro isn't reporting any viruses, but I'm not about to run it for myself.

  95. Re:Music isn't the only thing you can share with i by zelphi · · Score: 1

    Actually MyTunes _does_ do a blanket file copy without regard to file type.

  96. Shut your fucking trap AC... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    Go back to watching Jerry Springer you jackass.

    p.s. You are reading what I wrote.

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
  97. How it works... by KarmaCop · · Score: 1

    (My version numbers on this may be wrong. I just entered the situation with the Windows version.)

    In the days of iTunes 4.0.0, there was no attempt at encrypting or otherwise protecting streaming data. The streaming itself is accomplished using a combination of Rendezvous (aka ZeroConf) and a modified HTTP server. This spawned programs like iLeech, iSlurp and various other wittily-named iPrograms.

    However, with the next incarnation of iTunes, 4.0.1, Apple got smart. Likely fearing the wrath of the RIAA, a new header was added to all the requests posted to the iTunes serving the music. This value, called Client-DAAP-Validation, looks, smells, and tastes like an MD5 sum. Without the proper DAAP-Validation, iTunes refuses to serve up any content.

    Obviously, this broke iSlurp and iLeech. And since there's no easy (read: DMCA-compliant) way to find the source of this value, programs that run separately from iTunes and provide download capabilities are, well, screwed.

    Enter myTunes. It's a two-pronged solution to this problem. Behind the scenes, there's a packet scanner watching for requests on the Rendezvous port (3689). When it comes across a request to stream a file, it notes the "URL" and proper DAAP-Validation.

    However, all files accessed via the modified iTunes HTTP server are represented via numeric IDs. To get the proper information about the file, myTunes uses a bastardization of the iTunes for Windows Visual Plug-in SDK. For some reason, all visual plug-ins receive notification when the currently playing song in iTunes changes. The myTunes plugin writes this value to the registry, where it is later read by the myTunes GUI and displayed for downloading via libcurl.

    This approach raises some interesting DMCA questions. Since the generation of the DAAP-Validation value has not been reverse-engineered, only captured, has anything been circumvented? In effect, myTunes is only a packet replayer.

    To counter some of the ill-informed people above, the original file is saved in original format without bitrate modifications. The response to a stream request is the file itself.

    General DAAP info