Apple Blocks PyMusique
We all knew that it wouldn’t last. News.com is reporting that Apple has successfully blocked PyMusique’s ability to purchase non-DRM’ed music from the iTMS. In a statement today, Apple noted: “The security hole in the iTunes Music Store which was recently exploited has been closed, and as a consequence the iTunes Music Store will now sell music only to customers using iTunes version 4.7.”
So, if you’ve been holding off on upgrading to avoid the new limits Apple placed on your tracks, I’m afraid you won’t be able to shop the iTMS. So much for that ”Don’t whine about DRM, just don’t upgrade” argument that everybody keeps pitching my way. As for all the others who keep saying ”that’s what you get for supporting DRM associated music” if you could point me to some good music that I could purchase legally that doesn’t have any connections to the RIAA or DRM, I’d love to hear about it.
We need to have a march and a banner and some t-shirts: DOWN WITH DRM!

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pedro said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
hooray apple!
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Ian said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
I was holding off upgrading 4.7 because of the stupid bug introduced that does not properly manage my library folders on a network drive (this is Windows iTunes). I went back to 4.6 and was much happier.
Not my happiest moment of joy with the Apple corporation today.
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Kacy said 9:39AM on 6-22-2005
this comes as no surprise. i think the most surprising thing is the amount of time it took-- a few days rather than a few weeks. but the RIAA harps on DRM and digital music so apple and anyone else discovering holes in their download mechanism feel quite a bit of pressure to fix it quickly, lest they face the wrath of lars ulrich and his lawyers....
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sma said 3:53PM on 7-14-2005
why are you so against drm? maybe i'm not the typical itms user, but i use the ipod for all my music needs. along with listening to music on my ibook, i use my ipod mini for listening while i work out. so why would i ever need to have music without the drm attached to it?
i'm all for it because it doesn't effect me.
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brian said 4:18PM on 6-24-2005
This is the second article today where the link just leads to "http://". So, where was "new limits Apple placed" supposed to lead?
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TH said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
As nobody has done it yet:
http://www.emusic.com/
Good music, no DRM.
Have fun.
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C.K. Sample, III said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
sma, DRM does affect you, whether you notice it or not. See my previous discussions of why I think it is evil. If it keeps progressing along the path it has been on, it will become more and more felt as time passes when the RIAA realizes they can walk all over our fair use rights with minimal resistance...
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David said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Hate DRM? Vote with your dollars. Stop buying from online vendors that use it.
Unless you're saying it's an evil you can live with ...
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MacOtto said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Ehh... You could always go to the local musikstore? Though somone always put restrictions on the cds aswell. Buy a mac. I have no problem ripping my cds. (Okay, I know Im stupid for pointing this out.)
ITMS to Norway!!
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Chris K said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Jack Johnson's new album is on a label that is not an RIAA member. Haven't bought it yet, but it will be the first album I have bought in...sheesh...two years?
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sma said 3:53PM on 7-14-2005
ck, i see your point and i agree, that drm has the potential to become a lot "stronger" than it is now, but the current state of drm in regards to the itms is fine with me right now in terms of the way that i use it.
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Jake of 8bitjoystick.com said 5:49AM on 7-09-2005
You know if you are sick of iTunes DRM then rip your CDs to MP3. Never use the iTunes Music store and get all your music from used CDs so the RIAA does not get a dime from you.
I can live with some audio DRM if it is fair Mostly I don't have a problem with iTunes DRM but the DRM in Windows Longhorn is one of the reasons why I came back to the Mac.
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Friar said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Legal no-DRM music? Allofmp3.com, baby. The only way to fly.
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sma said 3:53PM on 7-14-2005
give russians my credit card number?? no friggin way!
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sma said 3:53PM on 7-14-2005
give russians my credit card number?? no friggin way!
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Tony said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
www.allofmp3.com
dirt cheap(russian loophole), $5 for 250MB, and u choose the bitrate and encoder.
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Tony said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
forgot to mention that wif you're worried about CC security, they accept paypal.
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Scott Williams said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
If you use that allofmp3 place, you might as well just steal the mp3's from the p2p networks. The license may be all well and valid in Russia, but good luck getting any American court to recognize it.
And before anyone jumps on me with some stupid legalese, do you really think that the RIAA won't find a way to invalidate the license in the USA?
On a positive note, http://www.mp3tunes.com/ doesn't contain DRM music and is legal (to my knowledge), but is still associated with the RIAA.
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Jim said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Two of my favourite UK record labels (Warp and Distinct'ive) both offer DRM-free MP3s for purchase. Warp's offering also carries albums and tracks from a number of other smaller labels. I still prefer to buy whole albums on CD, but for singles and tracks that have had limited availability they've both been fantastic.
http://www.bleep.com
http://www.distinctiverecords.com/
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Chris said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
I have to say, the defenders of DRM are a little too sanctimonious and far too narrow-minded. I used to be fine with DRM, until I sent my 15" PB back to Apple to have its screen fixed (spots). As per Apple's instructions, I deauthorized my computer before sending in the machine. 1 week later, I received my machine with its new screen and attempted to reauthorize my computer. iTunes crashed, again, and again, and again. Every attempt to authorize a song would cause the machine to crash. I told Apple and they cleared my account of all authorization records(?). No more crashes... on half of my drm'ed songs. The other half still could not be played. This would not have happened if Apple had sold me songs without DRM. I wasn't trying to distribute the music nor have multiple copies, I merely wanted to PLAY MY PURCHASED MUSIC.
The problem was never resolved. Over 100 songs would not play. I realize there is probably a simply solution to this problem (corrupt itunes lib?), but I gave up. I went to another OS X machine, authorized it, downloaded jhymn, and solved the problem.
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