Fairtunes, Playfair, and iTunes
With the first anniversary of Apple's iTunes Music Service approaching, Apple is facing some repeated attempts at hacks opening up the iTunes Music format.
Playfair and QTFairUse both provided rough applications to accomplish the task of stripping iTunes Digital Rights Management. Playfair was originally hosted at Sourceforge, but was reportedly shut down at Apple's request.
Sarovar was the next home for Playfair, but was also quickly removed at the request of Apple. From the cease and desist letter:
It was recently brought to our clients' attention that a program called
"PlayFair" had been developed, which decoded our clients' protected AAC
files, converting them to unencrypted files allowing them to be played and
distributed in an unrestricted manner. This is contrary to our clients'
terms and conditions governing availability of the service and is causing
them enormous potential loss of revenue and reputation. Not only that,
the PlayFair program is against the express provisions of our Information
Technology Act, 2000 and the Copyright Act, 1957 and you are equally
liable as accessories, being the means through which the offending program
is available for download at the Sarovar site at the following URL:
http://sarovar.org/projects/playfair/.
Update: Meanwhile, FairTunes offers the ability to decode protected into unprotected and uncompressed audio... but does not retain the unique ability of the other applications of converting from Protected AAC -> Unprotected AAC without any loss.
Popular Stories
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Below, we outline which U.S. states offer the feature, and additional states that have committed to rolling it out in the feature in...
Apple suppliers will begin mass production of the fourth-generation iPhone SE in December, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a blog post.
The fourth-generation iPhone SE is expected to have a similar design as the base iPhone 14, with rumored features including a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, a newer A-series chip, a USB-C port, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, 8GB of RAM...
Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased that the company has an "exciting week of announcements" planned next week. Joswiak said to "Mac" your calendars, and the post includes an animated icon for the Finder app on the Mac, so it is clear that at least some of next week's announcements will be related to the Mac.
Subscribe to MacRumors on YouTube for more videos!
Below, we have...
Apple's Greg Joswiak today made it clear that Apple plans to reveal new products next week, teasing refreshed Macs. In a social media post, Joswiak said to "Mac your calendars" because there's an exciting week of announcements that start on Monday morning.
With Joswiak's announcement, it appears that there will not be a dedicated October event for Macs this year, with Apple instead...
Amazon today has the 42mm GPS Apple Watch Series 10 for the new all-time low price of $366.28, down from $399.00. This sale is only available in the Rose Gold Aluminum model, and Amazon provides an expected delivery date of October 28 for most United States residences.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...
On October 28, Apple is expected to release macOS Sequoia 15.1, bringing to Macs the first Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools, new Siri features, Smart Replies, and more. In addition, macOS 15.1 adds a handful of welcome tweaks and improvements to existing Mac capabilities.
Here's what we can expect from the first major update to macOS Sequoia later this month. Note that...
Apple today released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro 2, with the software available for both the USB-C and Lightning models. The AirPods Pro 2 firmware has a build number of 7B19, up from the 7A305 firmware released in September.
The new AirPods Pro 2 firmware comes just ahead of when Apple plans to launch Hearing Health features in iOS 18.1. Hearing Health includes a hearing test...
Apple's Mac mini has long been a powerhouse in a compact form, offering impressive performance in a small package. With rumors swirling about a completely overhauled new model that is likely just days away from being announced, anticipation is building for what Apple has in store.
From enhanced connectivity to major hardware upgrades, the upcoming Mac mini promises to bring significant...
