Filed under: iTS, Software, Tips and tricks, iTunes
DRM Dumpster automates the DRM stripping process
By now, most people who buy music from the iTunes Store know that one of the ways to legally get around the DRM restrictions on your purchased music is to burn a CD of that music and then rip that CD back into iTunes as unrestricted MP3 files. While it's true that there's some quality loss associated with that process, it's satisfactory for many people. The process is still a pain, though, particularly if you have a full library of purchased music that you want to un-DRM.
DRM Dumpster, from BurningThumb, isn't magic and it doesn't perform any new tricks. All it does is automate the task of burning a CD-RW and then importing your music back to iTunes. It processes your entire iTunes library, not selections, so there's no need for it if you only have a few songs or less than one CD's worth of music to convert. By using a CD-RW, DRM Dumpster is able to erase and reuse a single disc to handle your entire library without you having to babysit and pop discs in and out of your optical drive.
DRM Dumpster is "donationware" and requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later, a CD-RW disc and a CD-RW-capable burner. It's been tested with iTunes 7.
Thanks, Adam!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tim said 8:36AM on 11-14-2006
Wouldn't this be possible to do with some sort of "virtual CD-R drive"?
Reply
WinMacLin said 8:57AM on 11-14-2006
http://seidai.50webs.com/Seidai%20Software.html
Strips DRM using the iLife suit more specifically using iMovie HD. Free works and doesn't waste Compact Discs.
Reply
Douglas F Shearer said 9:02AM on 11-14-2006
This would surely be possible to do using a disk image rather than a physical disk. Good idea though.
WinMacLin (Of Neowin fame I presume?) - I would suspect the iMovie loophole will be closed by Apple fairly soon.
Reply
WinMacLin said 9:04AM on 11-14-2006
Indeed that's me Douglas.
Reply
junkie said 9:21AM on 11-14-2006
why are people so anti DRM in the first place? you don't want artists to be paid for music? if you don't want to support the artists, don't listen to it.
Reply
Dave said 9:27AM on 11-14-2006
I don't understand people's need to strip DRM. There has never been a time that I've felt impeded by the music I purchase from iTunes. I can hear my music on my iPod, on my various computers, on CDs that I burn, on my home stereo and so on. In short, I can do everything I want to do with my music. So what's the problem?
The only reason I can think of that may explain why people want to do this is so that they can get music from their friends that they didn't pay for. You don't have $0.99?!?
Reply
stretchdog said 9:30AM on 11-14-2006
Junkie, if people have iTMS songs on their computer, obviously they want the artists to get paid. (Duh! They bought it!) HOwever after they bought it, they want to be able to listen to it however they want to. I own an iRiver and a Tivo in addition to my iPod. I paid for the music, shouldn't I be able to listen to the songs how I want to listen to them?
DRM doesn't stop piracy, it only stops honest people who don't know better. I could download all of my music off of limewire and bittorrent, but I don't, and get punished for it.
Reply
WinMacLin said 9:33AM on 11-14-2006
I would want to strip the DRM for one reason.
I get iTunes gift cards to buy music from family members and even though I own an iPod right now I may consider buying a Zune once released in the UK or another music player. or I wish to play my DRM files over my in-house network to my Windows XP Media Centre Edition powered computer.
To do those things I need to use 3rd party programs. Either DRM strippers or DRM enablers (there are some Pluggins for MCE which will allow DRM AAC playback from the iTunes store).
I don't want to steal music nor do I intend to trade it with Friends/Family I just need it a little less restricted. If there was 1 DRM that the entire industry could adhere to and all PMP's and computers (including Linux) could play then I personally would not require a DRM stripper.
Reply
Aron T said 9:40AM on 11-14-2006
DRM in its current state is a violation of our usage rights - plain and simple.
Reply
Gandhi said 9:40AM on 11-14-2006
WinMacLin:
iTunes is one of the most consumer-friendly implementations of DRM out of all the available options. You can simulaneousl have yur music collection n up to 5 computers, you can have your music be streamed to other computers on your network, you can burn it on to CDs/DVDs (which this software apparently automates), and you can attach however many devices (iPods) to load your library. Best of all, most songs can be purchased for 99 cents, without being forced to buy the whole album. You cannot do any of this with Zune - at least not in the version shipping currently.
Why woul you even want a Zune, as it is sold now? For wireless sharing of music that time bombs after three tries (successful or not) or three days (whichever comes first)? No thanks, I pass.
Reply
Justin Mazzi said 9:51AM on 11-14-2006
@Dave
not everyone has an iPod. some people have mp3 players that can't play back DRM files. how's that?
Reply
Rich said 10:15AM on 11-14-2006
I'll second the comments of "Justin Mazzi"...I have three other mp3 players in my house that won't play back Protected AAC files. I also have a mp3 CD player that won't play them back. A tool like this is a good way to easily make the 547 songs* in my "Purchased" library usable on those devices.
* A lot of those were free from the Pepsi promotion, plus the 2 or more freebies Apple puts out weekly.
Reply
Alan said 10:19AM on 11-14-2006
I strip the DRM immediately after buying music because I want to be able to access my music forever. I like paying the artists for music, but don't like having to worry about authenticating iTunes or if the authentication process borks one day.
With that said, burning a CD and ripping the tracks has to be the worst way to do it. You download a lossy file from iTunes, and then you create another lossy file but with a lossy source?
Not that it's a Mac solution, but since I used to use JHymn so much, I now use QTFairUse. If the newest version of iTunes doesn't work with the latest QTFairUse, there's a beta floating around that does work.
Reply
WinMacLin said 10:29AM on 11-14-2006
Gandhi:
You just don't understand what I'm saying. I need more freedom for my DRM files so I can move to another platform. I may use iTunes + iPod today but next year I may use Winamp + Zune or another product which leaves me with possibly hundreds of DRM locked songs that I can no longer use and have to re-buy.
Just because you don't like the Zune doesn't mean other people don't either. It offers allot of interesting features that I like and I may switch from my 5th Gen iPod to the Zune.
Reply
Chris said 11:01AM on 11-14-2006
I'm not anti-DRM at all, but I think that Apple should release a decoder to third parties so that we can have freedom to use any device we want.
I stopped buying iTMS music since I couldn't play my purchased Megadeth albums while playing on my Xbox 360.
If I paid for the music, I should be able to listen to it on whatever I want. DRM is currently being used as a lever to promote corporate walled-gardens, not as a tool to protect artist rights.
Reply
Adrian Bool said 11:04AM on 11-14-2006
Being able to purchase non-DRM infected music is of course the preferred situation - however Apple has given as form of DRM that is not overly restrictive allowing us to pretty much do what we wish with any music we buy from them.
I feel that releasing this app is pretty irresponsible. Everyone knows that you can write out a CD and get non-DRM discs back. By making it so blatant you're just increasing the chance that the record companies will put pressure on Apple to disallow the creation of CDs from DRM protected sources - resulting in a worse situation for us all :-(
aid
Reply
Alyson said 11:07AM on 11-14-2006
Hate to point this out, but there is no legal way to get around DRM (at least in the U.S.A.). It is a violation of the DMCA to break copy-protection technology. It is also a violation to publish information on how to break it -- something TUAW just did.
Reply
zeeboo said 12:29PM on 11-14-2006
hahaha @ #17 Alyson
People are so freakin' uptight! Stripping the DRM is NOT a big deal. This is my rational.
They bought the song with the DRM. Therefore, that said person is doing things legally. They've bought the right to have that track(s). My situation.. my Audi plays MP3s on SD cards. AAC is not available as an optional format. So, I either buy a CD and add to the garbage pile of excess waste.. or I buy electronically. Environmentally speaking, I think you know the right answer.
Reply
junkie said 1:23PM on 11-14-2006
I see the point of wanting to use it on other devices - people should be screaming at Apple about that. I would much rather see a petition, protests and or lawsuits to tell Apple to license FairPlay to other device makers.* But still iTunes depends on DRM to function as a viable business.
Granted some breakage of DRM is part of the model, but if those loopholes are exploited such that the DRM is irrelevant, then iTMS will no be credible as an online good provider and there goes the download model.
This app is annoying because it celebrates breaking the DRM, and then has the gaul to ask for a donation.
* This is actually the perfect time for that if you ask me, given that MSFT has walked away from PlaysForMaybe with the Zune.
Reply
Fred said 5:26PM on 11-14-2006
@Alyson
This application doesn't 'get around' the DRM; it just automates a facility already provided in iTunes by Apple.
Reply