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iTunes DRM-Free Files Contain Personal Info
r2k writes "Apple's iTunes Plus files are DRM-free, but sharing the files on P2P networks may be an extremely bad idea. A report published by CNet highlights the fact that the account information and email address of the iTunes account holder is hidden inside each and every DRM-free download. I checked, and I found I couldn't access the information using an ID3 tag editor, but using Notepad I found my email address stored inside the audio file itself."
You can see the info within iTunes.
Get Info on the Song/Video/Etc
Then go to the Summary Tab, Second column.
AAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding ) is an industry standard, and even if it weren't, iTunes helpfully provides a "Convert to MP3" item in the context menu of non-DRM'd AAC files that does exactly what it says.
This has been the case for AGES
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article1871173.ece
Or at least for about a year and a half, I think slashdot reported on it then, too.
the account information and email address of the iTunes account holder is hidden inside each and every DRM-free download
How is this "hidden"? If you select an audio file purchased from the iTunes Store (with or without DRM), and go to File->Get Info, you'll see the following fields in the summary:
Purchased by:
Account Name:
Purchase Date:
Apple's not trying to hide anything here.
AAC in a a run-of-the-mill MPEG-4 container, with ID3-formatted tags stored in a separate atom (permissible in the MPEG-4 standard).
Anything that uses libavcodec/libavformat as a base (ffmpeg, VLC, mplayer, etc) can read these files. They may not have the code to extract the ID3 tags from the atom and feed the data blob to something like libid3... but as long as the player software can read standard MPEG-4 files with basic AAC... it can play these suckers.
The format just isn't as prevalent as MP3, but that doesn't automatically make it proprietary.
In many places, it's perfectly legal to share you music collection. Here in Canada we pay a tax on recordable media for that right.
Converting from AAC to MP3 is lossy.
This came up when they introduced iTunes plus ages ago. It's been discussed back then. Yes, the info is there. You can simply look it up, no problem. Your ID3-Tag-Editor might not be able to chanxge it since we're not talking MP3 here. That's it.
Just use a different editor, clean out the information and start the copyrightinfringement-frenzy you seem to have been waiting for for so long. Oh no, you already do that, I guess.
Or, if you don't like finding an editor that can delete the info, just go to a record store and steal the CD.
The English is fine, just not the information!
Like many places, Spanish law has exemptions for private use, which probably makes removing DRM completely legal. However the owners are allowed to make copies only for private usage, with collective and lucrative uses not allowed. Sharing on P2P would definitely constitute a collective use.
Although as with almost everywhere else, P2P itself is not illegal.
Converting to MP3 is lossy, regardless of the source format.
Well up the bitrate and reduce the loss - people talk a lot of shit about hi-fi but in reality a decent MP3 will be indistinguishable from anything else on 99% of gear in 99% of listening situations.
There is no music - home taping killed it.
Just to note, the email address has always been part of iTunes Plus files. This in nothing new.
this sig is useless
It's clear. A certain percentage of slashdotters act all surprised every time it's repeated though. Of course, most /.'ers also act all surprised every time some wack-job blames video games for violence too. At least some people are pointing out that the account information has been part of iTunes files for forever and isn't news to most people who know how to do a Google search.
this is the second or third article about apple putting said info into their music files over the years. It isn't surprising. Apple even states it somewhere in the fine print of the EULA's.
Slashdot suffers from ADD and forgets what it duped yesterday.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Sure, so long as they make it abundantly clear that this is what they're up to.
Choose any iTunes plus song, and select "get info" from the main menu. On the left side of the "Summary" pane, you'll see "Purchased By", "Account Name", and "Purchase Date". IIRC, those were there on the DRM versions too.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
This has always been the case since the iTunes store opened! It's not news, it's several years old. Heck, when Hymn was available (removed FairPlay from purchased music, and this was 5+ years ago), it kept the personal information to prevent people from P2P'ing the newly unlocked music.
So the very first time you used the iTunes store years ago, personal information was attached - it wouldn't have shown up with change bars because that part has not changed. You can probably find the news articles about it from years ago, and again from a couple of years ago when iTunesPlus was started about how the AppleID of the purchaser was embedded in the file.
People are acting like this is completely new, when it's been happening for years now.