OK, I can see why there’s some indignation here . . . .
Cory Doctorow:
iPod Download is an iTunes plugin for moving music off your iPod onto your Mac that Apple had removed from the Internet by means of a series of lawyer letters. Then Apple shipped a disingenous “update” to iTunes that contained a blacklist of disallowed plugins, including iPod Download, because apparently Apple knows better than you which software you should use with your iPod after you’ve bought it and paid for it.iPod Download has been updated to version 1.1, and it works with iTunes again. Get it before Apple uses the law to take away your rights again.
(via Engadget)
but if you follow the links and see how trivial it was to re-enable the plugin and regain access to the files, I have to wonder if Apple is doing just a little more than playing along. Consider that “breaking” the DRM is as simple as burning a CD from iTunes and ripping it. Does that sound like a draconian regime or is it more like someone playing “wink wink nudge nudge” with clueless RIAA cartel?
I admit the whole idea of copy protection/DRM is nasty and has proven to be technically unworkable: the idea of the RIAA getting into an intellectual arms race with hackers isn’t worth betting on — unless you bet with the RIAA on them winning.
Now playing:The Bottom Line by Big Audio Dynamite from the album “This Is Big Audio Dynamite”