Slashdot Mirror
MySpace Music Player Hacked
Roy van Rijn writes to tell us about a little program called MySpace MP3 Gopher, with which you can download any song from MySpace as an MP3 even if it is marked to disable downloading. MySpace MP3 Gopher is a Windows program requiring no installation, and for those not on a Windows box the author offers an online version that anyone can run. It is hosted on his home computer so it is bound to get slashdotted rather quickly. All you need to grab a MySpace song is its "friendID," which is in every URL as a parameter. Tech-recipes has step-by-step instructions.
I have no doubt this project was funded, in whole or in part, by Universal Music group to support their BS crusade against MySpace and YouTube.
Push Button, Receive Bacon
Really, it's the fact that they let you listen to music but try to stop you downloading it — it's stupidity in itself. If your computer is receiving the audio data, you can save it. But then again, similar things can be said about DRM.
it is rumored that the Americans in Guatanamo Bay in Cuba downloaded this program and used it as part of their "alternative interrogations" program. Quoth an anonymous source "Not even the most devout person in the world can withstand a constant barrage of myspace musical selections"
Monstar L
Am I missing something? It fails to grab any listings from any artists. Even the one used in the screenshot. Thats the web version and the desktop one.
1. Wait for 0-day news of product.
2. Create a trojan with adware.
3. Post a link to a "mirror" with the trojan. Bundling the original program is optional.
4. Sit back and earn 0.25 per install.
Caveat emptor.
Ok, who on slashdot uses myspace?
.... guy I used to know who did that once.
I bet you a lot of Slashdot does. As soon as you see the first chick with nice hooters who advertizes her myspace page, and you have to be a member to see the good pics.
Not that I actually did that... I just heard about a friend... errr
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
I just tried downloading off my buddies band page, just to see how/if it works, and nadda.
So.. move along, nothing to see here.
LR
www.slightlycrewed.com - Because aren't we all?
Any crusade against MySpace is a worthy cause, in my oh-so-pretentious opinion.
I dislike Myspace as much as the next guy, but Universal is just playing dirty. I mean, just days after they threaten to file suit against Youtube and Myspace, a piracy tool written to exploit myspace just happens to appear on the internet.
give me a break. It's pretty clear that a) MySpace and Universal have been in contract negotiations, b) those negotiations have broken down over fee structure, and c) Universal is doing its hardest to set precedent so that if MySpace doesn't come over to their side of the table, they can sue MySpace for as much money as possible.
Push Button, Receive Bacon
This is just another example of Web 2.0 security, or the lack thereof.
I disagree. They are letting people download this music, but they are supposed to prevent them from saving the file.
This is just an attempt at DRM, which really has little to do with our traditional notion of "computer security".
"Security" usually means preventing unauthorized access of your computers... not preventing unauthorized access to data after you give it to someone.
I tried it on four or five differnet artists, none worked.
Maybe MySpace devs fixed the hole
My posts are definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
Saying "You put it online, so you shouldn't mind people ripping it" is like telling a car dealership that they should accept that their cars are being stolen because they put them on display in their lot.
um...no. it's like a car "dealership" saying "i know we put these cars in the lot, with the keys in them, for people to use for free, but stealing them is wrong." the songs aren't there to be looked at and not used. as far as i know, there's no limit to how many times you can listen to a song on someone's profile. just keep hitting play, and it starts over.
The "hack" worked when it was posted to digg about 2 days ago. Looks like it was fixed early this morning.
Hmmm.
I actually work with a lot of MySpace artists with my site (I have a MS account, but I mean popexperiment). Ya, ripping off 96Kbps @ 22050Khz will really help you satisfy that need. Nothing like kicking back and taking in the hiss.
The only thing I really don't like about this is a lot of musicians and labels have come to depend on MS (say what you like, I work in a web-services company, I know Coldfusion and MySpaces scales poorly) and they might start pulling content. MS is actually the best resource out there right now for finding new work (since mp3.com really, which is shit now). Thats a simple fact. And artists can be very, very sketchy about 'lossing control' of their content. Another fact I have to contend with regularly (I run an internet radio channel/show on the previously mentioned site).
Lets hope they plug the hole quickly before knees start to jerk.
More interesting is the pending MySpace downloads. Assuming they don't build it out themselves (which the article seems to suggest isn't the case) this could be great for a lot of independant/international artists and even better for the listeners. Because MS encoded files are great for a quick taste but garbage to really listen to.
Anyway, as usual, we'll see how the chips fall. The net is pretty orgainic.
Quack, quack.
I use bugmenot.com to login to MySpace for more pics.
Or go to a live show (if any) and smuggle in a Minidisc recorder. I hear that's quite a popular option, too.
I would have thought of that... if some of the blood in my brain hadn't been located in another organ.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
I think its a poorly designed service (part of why its so popular actually, lots of bugs (css expliots, less sanitising) that let users take more control, for better and worse.
:)
The catch with those great digital download sites for the small artists is you need a LABEL. They don't deal with artists directly. Which was great news for me, I was preparing to launch a 'virtual' label for artists who needed help with that part. But thats on hold now with MySpace's plan. I'll see how it works out.
Anyway, I agree about the great DRM free sites and believe me, I use everyone of them (you left off indie911, check my resources page for some more, foreign, etc). Magnatune I have mixed feeling about because while its a noble effort I don't think it gets enough exposure to actually help. While sites like the previously mentioned 911 (I promise, I have no affiliation) offer roughly %70 per track, which to me would sound a little more tempting (that and they are actively trying to gain more attention, we'll see how far they get).
Anyway, the downloads aren't quite the windfall to a lot of the artists who post their work there. Even if their reasoning isn't perfect (its their music, so its their call) a lot of artists really don't want their music freely available and for a variety of reasons. It'll probably get fixed quickly then they can play cat-n-mouse, who knows.
Quack, quack.