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Jon Johansen Breaks iTunes DRM Yet Again
ikewillis writes "Remember earlier today when Apple released an update supposedly blocking the hole in iTMS recently discovered by Jon Johansen? News.com reports that he has already worked around the update, and iTMS can now be accessed from non-Windows/MacOS X systems using the new version of his PyMusique software. You can view his blog entry on the issue (ironically titled So Sue Me). More power to you, Jon!"
He's likely acting as a front for another group doing the grunt work who doesn't want the legal exposure.
Given the current legal precedent he's acquired in Norway, it's highly unlikely Apple will be able to prosecute.
The only way for Apple to actually fix this hole is to handle DRM encryption server side, unless you consider the problem is unresolved due to the fact that DRM is a fundamentally flawed concept.
there are options. there's magnatune.com for starters. Look, there is "someplace else" to buy or download stuff. It drives me crazy that mostly everyone here bitches and complains about the Evil Music Industry, but no one is willing to try out alternatives. Guys there are alternatives. If we would all make use of them, then the artists would sign contracts with those alternates! Besides, it's honest. -ron
Actually, it was sosumi, and it didn't show up until System 7 (at the same time as the ability to record audio via a built-in mic was added to the Macintosh line).
I'm going to mention it here but someone else has already brought up the so sue me title...
The title of the blog was So Sue Me long before Jon went after iTunes Music Store like this. It's not something he's saying to Apple, ever since the DVD DMCA thing he has had this blog titled that way. Don't get the idea he's got that title in there JUST to spite Apple.
Kyle
http://www.unlogikal.net/
Because, of course, the court cases that Jon went through (DMCA infringment involving DVD encryption) relate directly to DMA involved with iTunes. After all, DMCA is DMCA, right? Let's lump all the cases together.
Using this tool might be a problem with Apples ToS and whatnot, but creating the tool is purely a legal issue. And that issue has been clearly settled under norwegian law. There is currently no norwegian law prohibiting you from creating a tool to break any copyright protection mechanism. You have the right to access any "secret" key in your hardware or software. That is why he can do so with impunity. Apple could sue, but they would lose as the law stands today. The public prosecutor knows it and won't do it.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Prior to the iTunes 4.7.x breakage (I don't mean the recent breakage, I mean the anti-Hymn breakage), Hymn would leave all identification info in any files it unprotected. In essence, the files were (lightly) watermarked.
With iTunes 4.7, Apple changed it so that watermarked but unprotected files wouldn't play.
The solution? Remove the watermark.
By breaking the ability to use iTunes music fairly (for example, in a device other than an iPid), Apple essentially forced the authors of Hymn to make their software more suitable to piracy.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Most of the end user licenses of software and services are completely meaningless in Europe (and in Norway).
The laws protecting the customer are far stronger here, and the seller cannot impose rules on the buyer without explicit (hand signed) acceptance of EACH clause on a written contract.
Yes, you guessed it, even Microsoft's EULAs have been proved to be largely unenforceable (for example) in Italy.
Ciao, Renato
"Stolen" is a strong word with specific legal meaning. If the sound originates from the game (and I'm not actually questioning it), I can readily see it as fair use, considering the related lawsuits and legal precedence, but I'm not a lawyer. Janet Jackson sampled my Mac system sound, and used it in one of her songs. My startup sound for the Mac was also used in the movie Jurassic Park (when they rebooted the park's computers).
Furthermore, if my ears are correct (and they usually are) one of the sounds in that game was "stolen" from Peter Gabriel.
If you weren't being so juvenile, you might be more persuasive. Try removing the hyperbole and begin using proper grammar.
You, alone, know the truth? Well, I'm responsible for Sosumi, the System 7 beeps, and the startup sound (which all remain in use today). I don't actually remember where or how I obtained the original sound. Most of them I created such as the startup sound and others, some I obtained such as the monkey sound that made by a friend's wife.
Personally, I felt having my startup sound used (or "stolen" in your words) by Steven Spielberg to be a form of flattery.
Are you a representative of Mr. Buckland? What is your interest in this matter? I'd like to hear from him instead.