Real Responds to Apple's Hacking Claims

ack154 writes "An article on VNUNet gives a sharp response from Real regarding Apple's recent claims of Real using "hacker tactics" to allow music from the Real store to play on the iPod. Real states: 'Compatibility, choice and quality are critically important to consumers and Harmony provides all of these to users of the iPod and over 70 other music devices including those from Creative, Rio, iRiver and others.' The article goes on to outline what they say is a 'clear precedent' for what they have done. And in case you were under a rock it all seemed to start here earlier this week."

Comments

Compatibility, choice and quality

[thirteenVA]

Compatibility, choice and quality are critically important to consumers...

In regards to real player these attributes are best defined as:

Compatibility: Real files only play in real player

Choice: Choose between real player basic (spyware laden) or real player premium (less spyware laden)

Quality: Only the highest quality spyware included in RealPlayer

Re:Compatibility, choice and quality

[Patoski]

Yeah, the spyware problem is so bad that I refuse to connect to any Real stream because I'd have to use RealPlayer. If Real weren't so underhanded about the spyware stuff, I'd be a lot more sympathetic toward their argument. As it is, Apple good, Real bad, even if Real happens to be right.

If you're using a windows box you can get Real Alternative.
Download Here

If you're using Linux there are w32 codec packages floating around for you to install which will allow you to play almost any media format. I'm not sure what is available for Macs since I don't own one.

Also, in this case shouldn't it be Apple bad, Real bad?

Re:Interesting summery...

[Chanc_Gorkon]

And this blurb would be wrong. The iPod and iTunes both still support un DRM'd Music. Ihave over 5 gigs of un DRM'd MP3's on my PowerBook with no issues.

Re:Buisness model RIIIIIIIGHT

[SmallFurryCreature]

It has been widely reported that in fact Apple does not make money on iTunes, it makes its money on the iPod. iTunes is there to boost iPod sales not the other way around.

I thought this had been reported often enough by now.

Too bad they were singing a different tune...

[DmitriA]

5 years ago when they went after StreamBox.

Re:Hacker tactics?

[k98sven]

The DMCA may have a loophole that makes this legal

It's not a "loophole", it's an explicit exception.
European law has a similar provision.

It's there for good reason: To promote competition and not allow DRM to be used for vendor lock-in.
(Current attempts notwithstanding)

What the DMCA does is prohibit circumvention of copyright-protection devices (e.g. "cracking"), unless it's done for interoperability purposes.

However, the EULA might prohibit reverse engineering no matter what. The enforcability of them are questionable, though. The UCITA act passed by some states is thought to make such clauses enforceable.

But I'm a bit sceptical, since a federal court found such a clause to be unenforcable in 1988 despite a Louisiana state law which allowed such clauses. I can't see why Federal law would not pre-empt the UCITA as well.

Re:Hacker tactics?

[Jeremy Erwin]

Yes, yes. We must uphold the example of Real, and their heroic achievements in the field of reverse engineering. We must blindly ignore the portion of their own license which states

2. LICENSE RESTRICTIONS.
a) You may not: (i) permit other individuals to use the Software except under the terms listed above; (ii) modify, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble (except to the extent that this restriction is expressly prohibited by law) or create derivative works based upon the Software or Documentation; (iii) copy the Software or Documentation (except for back-up or archival purposes); (iv) rent, lease, transfer, or otherwise transfer rights to the Software or Documentation; (v) remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Software or Documentation; or (vi) use the MP3 encoder in real time broadcasting (terrestrial, satellite, cable or other media) or broadcasting via the internet or other networks, such as, but not limited to, intranets. You also may not use the RealJukebox MP3 encoder in pay-audio or audio-on-demand applications. Any such forbidden use shall immediately terminate your license to the Software. The recording, playback and download features of the Software are intended only for use with public domain or properly licensed content and content creation tools. You may require a patent, copyright, or other license from a third party to create, copy, download, record or save content files for playback by this Software or to serve or distribute such files to be played back by the Software.
b) You agree that you shall only use the Software and Documentation in a manner that complies with all applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which you use the Software and Documentation, including, but not limited to, applicable restrictions concerning copyright and other intellectual property rights.
c) You may only use the Software for your private, non-commercial use. You may not use the Software in any way to provide, or as part of, any commercial service or application. Copies of content files, including, but not limited to songs and other audio recordings, which are downloaded or copied using the Software, and which are protected by the copyright laws or related laws of any jurisdiction, are for your own personal use only and may not be distributed to third parties or performed outside your normal circle of family and social acquaintances.
d) You may not use the Software in an attempt to, or in conjunction with, any device, program or service designed to circumvent technological measures employed to control access to, or the rights in, a content file or other work protected by the copyright laws of any jurisdiction.
e) The Software embodies a serial copying management system required by the laws of the United States. You may not circumvent or attempt to circumvent this system by any means.

There is no "cracking" going on.

[Ayanami Rei]

They are just using the trick playfair (now hymn) used... figure out how to ask the iPod for your user keys, try all of them until one decrypts the priv atom in a m4p file, and decrypt the data stream with the key therein. It's just standard AES (128-bit Rijandel). The trick was figuring out how keys are managed. And lucky for Real, all that groundwork was already done for them. Then they could just pull your user keys from your iPod and encrypt your downloads with those on THEIR music site. Easy peasy.

Re:Hacker tactics?

[milo_Gwalthny]

Settle down, man. Analogies are by nature not perfect. That's why they are analogies not similitudes. Just because he used some of your hobbies in his analogies doesn't make them obtuse.