Skip to navigation

PCPro-Computing in the Real World Printed from www.pcpro.co.uk

Register to receive our regular email newsletter at http://www.pcpro.co.uk/registration.

The newsletter contains links to our latest PC news, product reviews, features and how-to guides, plus special offers and competitions.

Latest News

The spy lurking in Apple's 'DRM-free' music

Posted on 31 May 2007 at 10:23

Apple's so-called 'DRM-free' music tracks are actually embedded with the name and account details of the person who downloaded the track.

The company released a selection of the 'iTunes Plus' albums as part of an iTunes update yesterday. The AAC audio files can be freely moved from PC-to-PC or to any compatible digital music player.

However, PC Pro has found that when you dig into the track information of downloaded songs, the name of the person who bought the song and their email address (or Apple account name) are embedded in each file. That information is retained when you move the song from one computer to another. However, if the song is encoded into a different format - WMA for example - the account information doesn't appear to be transferred.

The obvious conclusion is that Apple is hoping to identify customers who illegally share music on file sharing sites. However, it does raise the possibility that account holders could be held liable if they share music with friends, who then distribute it on file sharing sites without their knowledge.

Despite the so-called DRM-free policy, the iTunes Plus terms and conditions place strict limitations on copying. They state that people are only authorised to 'use the Products on up to five iTunes-authorised devices at any time'.


The terms also state that 'you shall be authorised to burn an audio playlist upto seven times.' However, it seems there are no physical ways to prevent people copying the music as many times as they wish.

Apple promised to comment on this story later today. We'll keep you updated.

Author: Barry Collins

Be the first to comment this article

You need to Login or Register to comment.

(optional)

advertisement

Most Commented News Stories
Latest Blog Posts Subscribe to our RSS Feeds
Latest Reviews Subscribe to our RSS Feeds
Latest Real World Computing

advertisement

Sponsored Links
 
SEARCH
SIGN UP

Your email:

Your password:

remember me

advertisement


Hitwise Top 10 Website 2008