Apple uses DMCA to shutdown PlayFair Website

that application shouldnt exist anyway...

if ur not smart enough to break the aac yourself,
then you shouldnt be,

either download illegally,

or buy it!


why buy it, then crack it, then share it?

What if you just want to play it on your non-iPod mp3 player? Or if you have a linux box and want to play it there?

The fact is that this program should be considered fair use of the music you had paid for. Just because a program CAN be used illegally doesn't mean it should be illegal (see the Home Recording Act).

I'm not in favor of this software, because I think Apple and the iTMS is giving us a really fair deal and that this app could threaten that deal because the RIAA is a bunch of paranoid freaks. But hey, it's just a bit of code helping people who actually own the music legally.

What really cracks me up is the DMCA. In our beloved US we can host all kinds of Nazi crap on any web server and it's all protected by the first amendment and nobody can shut the server down even if it propagates nothing but lies, hatred and stupidity.

But if some company comes along that can't write a tough enough DRM and some smarter guy finds a way to break it, the server gets sacked. It's just ridiculous.

Welcome to the corporate US: If you're a company making tons of cash the laws are here to help you, if you're looking for peace and justice, the law doesn't give a shit.

These are the moments I feel ashamed to be an American.

...would you play it on a non-iPod MP3 player if you have an iPod? If you so desperately want to play the song on a Linux box, why can't you burn a CD and play that? Or hook up your iPod to the box, playing through it. Is the goal to play a tune or to have it in digital form on every goddamn device you own? Create solutions, not problems.

I thought Apple used good judgement for this kind of stuff.. now they want (not even the RIAA, Apple!!) to shut down a web site that helps us do what the fair use act enable us to do legally, ie: copy it many times as long as it stays for a personal, non-profit use (one copy for 1st computer, 2nd, an mp3 player, office computer, etc.)

I suggest everyone to read this report on the DMCA and fair use act, it is very complete and well documented: http://www.jmls.edu/ripl/vol2/issue2/earle-middle.html

Apple is doing this to show they're serious about DRM because otherwise the RIAA would pull the plug on the iTunes Music Store. They don't have much of a choice otherwise.

Don't blame DMCA. Companies don't have to enforce DMCA. We should have the freedom to protect intellectual property and the freedom to decide to not be paranoid about it.

If you don't like iTMS and its poor selection, poor audio quality and DRM, buy the CDs or go to a non-DRM site like audiolunchbox.com. Make your choices. What you choose is your vote. You have more control than you realize if you are just willing to to take a stand like you did by buying a Mac to begin with. The reason this is being enforced is because of all the deals with the big bad record labels.

Simon, don't be so selective. There's a ton of anti-Constitution communist crap that's also protected by the 1st Ammendment.

but don't go flat out to hijack the protocol - this is what you get for your troubles.

that solves the i-want-to-play-it-on-my-non-ipod problems, ditto the linux box problem.

I got it, used it, and I'll keep using it. The thing to realize is that you have to own the music in order to decrypt it. I don't feel bad about it. I'm not using it so I can put the music out for everyone to share, I'm using it so that I can play it when I want, where I want.

I grew very weary of purchasing music, only to forget that I ran out of authorizations and have to constantly de-authorize and re-authorize just so I can play music that I legally bought.

Now I am actually planning on purchasing MORE music through itunes music store. Maybe this will actually increase sales...

... and thieves always come up with a hundred self-serving rationalizations to justify their theft. It is no secret that the reason to crack AAC files is to distribute them for free to people who did not pay for them, and cheat the artists out of their money. So just be up front about it—a lot of people want to steal, and those who succumb to the impulse are just... thieves. Don't piss down the artists' backs and try to tell them it's raining.