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.

Comments

Misleading Headline

[eaglebtc]

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!

Re:Misleading Headline

[Caharin]

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.

Re:Misleading Headline

[Spyky]

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

Re:Misleading Headline

[christopherfinke]

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.

Won't work with music from Apple Store

[da_anarchist]

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.

Open Source, Email communication

[Caharin]

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

Something's not right...

[Qweezle]

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.

The loser: Me

[Therlin]

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.