Posted on 10/24/2006 7:48:58 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 24 (Reuters) - A hacker who as a teen cracked the encryption on DVDs has found a way to unlock the code that prevents iPod users from playing songs from download music stores other than Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) iTunes, his company said on Tuesday. Jon Lech Johansen, a 22-year-old Norway native who lives in San Francisco, cracked Apple's FairPlay copy-protection technology, said Monique Farantzos, managing director at DoubleTwist, the company that plans to license the code to businesses.
"What he did was basically reverse-engineer FairPlay," she said. "This allows other companies to offer content for the iPod." At the moment, Apple aims to keep music bought from its iTunes online music store only available for Apple products, while songs bought from other online stores typically do not work on iPods. But Johansen's technology could help rivals sell competing products that play music from iTunes and offer songs for download that work on iPods as they seek to take a bite out of Apple's dominance of digital music. ITunes commands an 88 percent share of legal song downloads in the United States, while the iPod dominates digital music player sales with more than 60 percent of the market. Cupertino, California-based Apple, whose profits have soared in recent years on the strength of the iPod, declined to comment.
Johansen, known as DVD Jon, gained fame when at the age of 15 he wrote and distributed a program that cracked the encryption codes on DVDs. This allowed DVDs to be copied and played back on any device. His latest feat could help companies such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Nokia (NOK.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research), Sony Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), which have all announced plans over the past few months for music download services combined with new devices to challenge Apple.
I'm not an Antitrust expert, but is there any grounds for the Goverment to bring a case against Apple?
There are cheaper MP3 players that will play the MP3's I already have, right? If so, why do i want an Ipod, not a cheaper mp3 player?
This kid must be getting paid > $1,000,000 per year at this point. Hackers don't get thrown in jail, they get super high tech jobs figuring out how to thwart other hackers.
How the mighty are fallen.
Individuals always do what committees cannot!
Yes, AND, the iPod will play the MP3s you already have. I've never bought anything from iTunes and all of my files on my iPod are non-DRM MP3s.
Because the ipod is better and not much more money than the imitatiors. The human factors of ipod and itunes is vastly superior. And nobody says you have to buy music from the itunes store. Rip CD to MP3 or AAC. itunes will do the ripping.
I think the iPod's are amazing from a design standpoint. Same for the iMac's.
Amazing that you can make a comment about millions of people regarding their motivation for doing something, without knowing a single solitary thing about them.
That was a pretty arrogant statement.
I find it hilarious how Apple fanboi's rail against Microsoft, yet over the years Apple has consistently produced closed platform products. If Microsoft had produced a device that would only play music purchased from a Microsoft music store, they'd scream bloody murder and cry to the government and their friendly neighborhood liberal Democrat class action lawyer.
Because the function of the iPod is head and shoulders above other MP3 players. I REALLY didn't want to like the iPod, but after looking at everything last year, it was an easy choice.
Time to short Apple.
After replacing my daughter's iPod 3 times this year, we went with a different brand. For about 1/2 as much as the iPod (with fewer features), we got an MP3 player that has a built in fm tuner, video, voice recorder and photo storage.
I wouldn't go back to the iPod for anything. Thank goodness we bought the extended warranty from Best Buy when we made the first purchase.
Worth several hundred t replace the songs i want?
Is there a free itunes sharing source? :)
I had a Creative Nomad for 4 years...loved it!
My client wnated me to do Podcasts, so I had to buy an ipod to make sure I was doing things on the upload/download correctly.
I've had the ipod for 2 years.
I much prefer the Creative. It is not proprietary. What I load onto it, I can then hook up to another computer & it sees it as another drive; I can then move music where I want it, AFTER I BUY the music!!!
Apple just puts their imprint all over their stuff & you can't move the music.
And I'm not stealing the music! I pay for the album download & I can't have it on multiple computers, & players!
Talk about a Monopoly!
If it wasn't for my clients saying "Podcast, podcast, blah, blah blah" I would never have that piece of equipment.
I think in the next year I will go back to Creative.
I prefer the subscription model to Itunes. With Napster or Rhapsody, it is like having the world's largest jukebox, and you can take your music with you.
Who needs to "own" a bunch of bits and bytes?
I'm convinced all music will move to subscription. There will be a ton of free stuff too.
Regarding the hardware, the iPod was successful b/c it is to a large extent a fashion accessory. Fashion trends don't last. The iPod will be peaking very soon.
All the "imitators" will eventually marginalize the iPod and the battle will soon no longer be over the hardware.
It will be over "subscribers."
While they have a headstart this time, Apple's attempt to keep the hardware and the software tied together and proprietary will once again bite them in their arrogant ass.
I love showing people that pay for songs off itunes how Rhapsody works. They always look a bit stunned and sheepish.
The Rhapsody / Best Buy deal (using a Sansa player) is a good prelude to what's coming down the pike.
Napster is going to bypass the players altogether in Japan through a joint deal with DoCoMo - the largest cell phone company. Japanese consumers all have music enabled phones already and they do more with them than we do ours. They will naturally move straight to downloads on their phones. No iPod or Sansa needed (although flash memory sales will likely continue to rise).
What about webex (instead of podcast). That seems to be the latest move in meetings.
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