NEWS A group of underground programmers has posted code online they say will reopen a back door in Apple's iTunes store, allowing Linux computer users to purchase music free of copy protection.
The release comes just a day after Apple blocked a previous version of the program, called PyMusique, in part by requiring all iTunes customers to use the latest version of Apple's software.
In a blog posting, Norwegian programmer Jon Johansen, who was previously responsible for releasing software used to copy DVDs online, said he had been successful at reverse engineering the latest iTunes encryption.
Cody Brocious, a Pennsylvania high school student working with Johansen, said they saw the project as "necessary for the Linux community," despite Apple's opposition.
The programmers' work has been one of the most persistent projects targeting Apple, whose iPod and iTunes Music Store have drawn consistent attacks and experiments by people eager to extend the capability of the products, or simply disarm copy protection.
The cat-and-mouse response is a familiar one in the technology world, as programmers have often sought to write software compatible with larger or more popular applications. Instant messaging companies such as AOL, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Trillian have long feuded, blocking and reopening access to each other's software.
The PyMusique programmers say they are primarily interested in allowing people using Linux computers to purchase music from the iTunes store, explaining their goals in a blog posting online. Their software requires users to have an iTunes account and pay the ordinary price for music.
They say they weren't aiming at creating a tool for stripping iTunes copy-protection off songs. However, Apple's system adds the layer of copy-protection inside the iTunes software itself, and so they didn't need to add it in their own version, they said.
Apple's software already allows customers to create an unprotected version of a song, by burning an iTunes purchase to a CD. That file can be ripped into an ordinary MP3.
While Apple has made no public legal threats against the programmers, the iTunes terms of service bars the use of any unauthorised software to access the store. Copyright lawyers have previously said that the PyMusique system, which evades Apple's intention to wrap all purchases in copy protection, may well cross legal lines.
"The work I do is completely legal in my country," Johansen said in an email interview. "Of course, I know very well that not doing anything illegal doesn't mean you won't be prosecuted [or] sued."
Johansen was prosecuted in Norway for releasing the DeCSS code in 1999, but was ultimately cleared of charges.
An Apple representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
Brocious said the updated version of PyMusique would only be available for Linux and that the programmers would not make a Windows version this time.
John Borland writes for CNET News.com
Comments
There are 5 comments. Join the discussion
1. Zakala
Surely the easiest way for Apple to "fight" this is to release a version of iTunes for Linux. How hard can it be?
2. Simon
Yeah, sure, Apple 'could' do iTunes for Linux, but they are really doing a microsoft with this - iTunes, iPod, and the whole iLife thing, is designed to get users using Apple's system, software, formats, etc and nothing else. Just like Microsoft they don't want anyone using anything else and are prepared to do everything they can to make life difficult for anyone that does want to.
Yes, I'm an Apple 'fan', but I'm not blind to their faults - and in so many areas they really have learned from MS !
3. Drew
Kudos for helping Linux users.
Seems like Apple is transforming into a Microsoft clone the way the Pigs did in the book Animal Farm!
While Microsoft is a confirmed Monopoly, Apple is merrily going on its way trying to become their own Monopoly with iTunes+iPod.
All the while forgetting when Mac users complained of software designers not making or making poor-quality programs for the Mac platform well after they release for Windows.
At least somebody is doing something to help break this stranglehold! Maybe Apple should take notice of their own exclusion as they once suffered.
"Four legs good... two legs better."
4. Andrew
I have to agree that apple is just doing an MS here to turn users into apple junkies. Get 'em hooked and make sure it can't be done any other way. Great for marketing, ultimately bad for business. Linux is the future and it would be smarter to develop Itunes for all platforms.
5. The Mitch
Hell, if they already have a MacOS/X version, then porting iTunes to freeBSD might just be no harder than switching to gtk or Qt toolkits and recompiling... So it really is a lack of consideration for all those free OSes out there.