Interesting info about imovie and iTunes encoding

[ps2daddy]

For those that havent seen this or didnt know already I saw this on the macnn site.

Report: iMovie strips FairPlay DRM from iTunes songs
Tuesday, August 3, 2004 @ 7:40am

Apple's iMovie can be used to strip the FairPlay digital rights management protection (DRM) on iTunes songs, according to a report by German news site Macnews.de. The site reports that Apple's own video tool can be used to create unprotected song files that be played on any computer without recompression, circumventing iTunes' DRM protection. iMovie users can use the "Share" feature of iMovie to export any imported (protected) song from the iTunes Music Store. The exported songs can either be stored in the un-protected AAC file format (used by Apple at the iTMS) or in the raw WAV file format; both of these formats are supported by iTunes.

Earlier this year, Apple used the DMCA to try to shutdown "Hymn," an open-source projected designed to convert iTunes songs into an unprotected format. The report notes that users can also bypass the iTunes song protections by burning a CD and then re-ripping the songs, although some loss of quality is expected during the recompression.

[AntnyMD]

As I understand that Share feature, it would re-compress the encrypted songs to un-encrypted AAC. Hymn merely removed selected parts of the DRM without touching the audio portion of the file.

I think Apple should do some education about how to use iTMS music for non-iPod usage. A person who is looking to use their purchased iTunes in a non-iPod device would reasonably accept the next best alternative, which is to make a standard audio CD. Apple is losing control over this part of the message, which just makes people focus on how to circumvent their digital rights management. Removing DRM in the way that Hymn did still won't get your purchased iTunes to play on your settop DVD player or in your Dell DJ.

[BernieR]

I think Apple should do some education about how to use iTMS music for non-iPod usage. A person who is looking to use their purchased iTunes in a non-iPod device would reasonably accept the next best alternative, which is to make a standard audio CD. Apple is losing control over this part of the message, which just makes people focus on how to circumvent their digital rights management. Removing DRM in the way that Hymn did still won't get your purchased iTunes to play on your settop DVD player or in your Dell DJ.

Well put!

Bernie