Slashdot Mirror
How To Play Your iTunes Music On Other Systems
ptorrone writes "Engadget has a step-by-step for the non-uber geek on how to play your purchased music from iTunes on other systems. To be clear, this isn't a way to take music you bought and give it to someone else, this is so you can listen to your own purchased music on other systems or devices. In fact, your personal info is still in the file."
hymn (the tool talked about in this walk through) is PlayFair. It's been renamed and a new author is working on it. Also, the latest release keeps your Apple ID in the file so if you have it on a P2P network your asking for trouble.
"hymm decodes the songs you have purchased using the key from your iPod and/or your operating system and make a new file which is not protected, it keeps the cover art and song data as part of the file. Since this is using your key, you can only do this for your songs, which I personally think is fair- they're the songs you bought, you should be able to put them on your other computers or devices."
I don't know, even if that doesn't technically violate fair use, it comes really close. He [the author] is right though: they're the songs you bought, you should be able to put them on your other computers.
i really like itunes. the layout is great, and the integration of itunes music store is fantastic because of the ease of use, speed of download, etc. it is slightly annoying that the songs are encrypted. if my other mp3 player could read these files, i wouldn't have any complaints. perhaps the solution is to send e-mail/letters to your favorite mp3 player company and request they release firmware upgrades for your players so that the itunes format is supported.
Where does the above say anything about copyright law? Your response to me would have been an appropriate reply, but fair use, as I said, doesn't belong in the discussion, at least until you've dispensed with the TOS discussion. (And quoting the law would probably still be overkill at that point.)
It seems like only a small step to remove the Apple ID from the decrypted file, hmm? I'm not advocating piracy but.. someone has to say this, 'cos it's what's going through plenty of people's minds.
This is my Sig, this is my Gun. One is for Slashdot and one is for Fun.
Is it no less a waste of time to burn iTunes songs to CDs and rip them? If anything, decoding this way is more in the spirit of Fairplay than burn and rip, as it maintains the ownership info.
"Because Science" is one step from "Because old book". Try "Because of my experiment testing my falsifiable assertion".
Yes, it is. We even have a term for it: "breach of contract."
A contract can never strip you of certain rights guaranteed to you, even if it specifically outlines you as giving them up. Fair use is one of those rights as recognized by the courts.
NO CARRIER
Private replay of works is not an action which is controlled by copyright. Full stop.
You're referring to public performance, which it does cover. It also covers distribution.
In the iTunes case, distribution was done with respect to the copyright and the license. If you later breach the copyright, it says you lose your rights as granted by the copyright. Sadly I'm not lawyerly enough to know what that means your legal status as to the files and private use of them is. However, you aren't either.
Suffice it to say, to be legally sure, you'd probably have to consult a lawyer, and maybe a bunch of dissenting lawyers and the agencies they represent would have to consult each other and a judge and over a lawsuit.
In practical terms, of course, I really doubt anyone will ever care about your private reproduction and media shifting, so it doesn't really matter.
-josh
Who said anything about making it illegal? If I buy a hard-to-find song on my wife's iMac, and I want to hear it on my Linux box, I'll happily do what it takes to make that happen. I keep hearing the tired suggestion to "just burn it to a CD, then rip it into an MP3. Get this: I can get music for free from the radio. I pay for it so that I can get good sound quality. Transcoding from one lossy algorithm to another does not fall within my definition of acceptable quality.
Some people will use these tools to share music without authorization. Some of us will use them to listen to the music that we paid for when and where we want to listen to it.
I'm not out to rip anybody off. I just want to hear some tunes. Understand?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?