June 4, 2007

Zero-DRM iTunes Tracks Offer Zero-Privacy Too

by Guy Brighton

In February, Steve Jobs wrote an open letter
on the Apple site asking music companies to dump DRM protection of
digital music tracks. EMI responded by allowing Apple to sell new
tracks at a higher price that were supposedly DRM free. Analysis of these new iTunes tracks shows that these tracks come with user data including the original buyer’s email address and account number. The BBC reports:

The tracks without the digital locks, known as Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, officially went on sale on 30 May under the iTunes Plus banner. The downloads cost $1.29 (99p in the UK) rather than $0.99 (79p in the UK).

Apple uses a technology known as Fairplay to limit what people can do with downloads… News site Ars Technica was among the first to discover that downloaded tracks free of Fairplay have embedded within them the full name and account information, including e-mail address, of who bought them.

BBC

Article categories: Music, Privacy

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One Response to “Zero-DRM iTunes Tracks Offer Zero-Privacy Too”

  1. Michael
    Posted from: 82.47.201.58

    June 4th, 2007 at 6:20 am

    You seem to be confusing the iTunes DRM (Fairplay) with the new DRM-free ‘iTunes Plus’ tracks (no Fairplay).
    embedding your user-name is called watermarking. it is not DRM - it doesn’t limit what you can do with the track or on what devices you can play it.
    The only reason why it would be a problem to have your name embedded in the (easily editable) metadata of the iTunes Plus purchase, is if you intend to redistribute copies of the track (P2P for instance) which is illegal.

    Anti-DRM technologies like Hymn were designed to strip the Fairplay DRM from iTunes tracks but by default, they kept this username metadata intact because it was developed as a comment against DRM, not copyright.

    Online stores like e-music use similar techniques but nobody has cried that the sky is falling over there - in fact, they have often been championed as the DRM-free indie alternative.

    Even web-sites like Digg.com, which is full of reactionary teenagers who love/hate Apple but all hate DRM, have collectively decided new DRM-free iTunes technique is a non-issue despite a slew of articles suggesting that it is a ’shocking discovery’.

    This move by Apple should be seen as a victory against DRM which, if successful, might break down more DRM barriers in the entertainment industries.

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