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Hacker cracks Apple's music-streaming codes
The Striats Times ^ | Updated Aug 13

Posted on 08/13/2004 6:02:57 AM PDT by Tai_Chung

Hacker cracks Apple's music-streaming codes SAN JOSE (California) - The Norwegian hacker famed for developing DVD encryption-cracking software has apparently struck again - this time breaking the locks on Apple Computer's wireless music streaming technology.

Mr Jon Lech Johansen released on his website - defiantly named So Sue Me - a software key that helps to unlock the encryption Apple uses for its AirPort Express, a device that lets users broadcast digital music from Apple's online iTunes Music Store on a stereo that's not plugged into a computer.

Some security consultants say that with the key and another program he released, Mr Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, has helped pave the way for other software applications other than Apple iTunes to work with AirPort Express.

Mr Johansen, an open source advocate, has been critical of Apple's proprietary system, which largely restricts Apple's hardware and software products to work only with each other.

On his website, for instance, he praised a newly-developed technology by RealNetworks that will make songs from its online music service compatible with the market-dominating Apple iPod portable music player.

His latest endeavours, which he posted on Wednesday, mark the third instance he's circumvented Apple's music copy-protection technologies this year.

Apple officials did not immediately return calls for comment on Thursday.

Mr Johansen, now 20, was 15 when he posted on the Internet software that unlocked the codes the film industry used on DVD movies to prevent illegal copying. The act made him a folk hero among hackers.

After the film industry complained, Norwegian authorities charged him with data break-in, but he was acquitted at trial and on appeal.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: airport; apple; hacker; ipod; itms; itunes; itunesmusicstore; jealouswindowssheep; lowqualitycrap; mac; macintosh
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1 posted on 08/13/2004 6:02:58 AM PDT by Tai_Chung
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To: Tai_Chung
Kudos to the hacker. It's one thing for Apple to say that they want to prevent illegal copying; it's another for them to place a moratorium on interoperability. If I buy a piece of music, it's mine to dispose of however I choose, provided that I don't distribute copies to anyone else. Anything I do to enable that disposal is legitimate.
2 posted on 08/13/2004 6:24:21 AM PDT by Physicist
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To: Physicist

I never understood why so many people hold Apple in such high regard. They have done a lot of user un-friendly things over the years. They introduce operating systems which will not run on your 3 year old Apple computer. They totally destroy their loyal dealer network. They change standards so new peripherals will not work with older computers. They allow clones and compatibles then destroy the clone industry. Virtually every product they have ever released has had a giant profit margin compared to the PC industry. One department, where I work, had eleven PCs and two I-Macs; they literally clapped when the two I-Macs were removed. I am not trying to start an argument about which is better Mac's or PCs, my point is that Apple has done some pretty rotten things over the years which its boosters tend to ignore.


3 posted on 08/13/2004 6:43:42 AM PDT by Jonah Johansen
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To: Swordmaker; HAL9000

... bring out yer pings ...


4 posted on 08/13/2004 6:45:44 AM PDT by IncPen (Quality, not Quantity.)
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To: Tai_Chung
Ya know.....if you bought a Macintosh, you wouldn't have this problem. Oh, wait........

Kudos to Johansen.

5 posted on 08/13/2004 6:46:45 AM PDT by laotzu
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To: Jonah Johansen

My PowerBook is 4 years old and I am running OS X 10.3 aka Panther. Of course being profitable is bad though. I have used both operating systems and OS X is the better choice.


6 posted on 08/13/2004 6:56:51 AM PDT by clodkicker
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To: Tai_Chung

Interesting. With the iPod, it appears that Apple has made at least part of itself as attractive to hackers as Microsoft has done.


7 posted on 08/13/2004 6:58:55 AM PDT by r9etb
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: Jonah Johansen

You're right on some parts, the clone 'experiment' and dealer networks, but I'm running OSX on a quite old iMac. And the migration strategy from OS9 to X was quite well done and easy on the user.

I wouldn't choose iMacs for business use, get a tower.

And all things considered, in a great many cases, Macs are more economical.

I got spoiled with free OS upgrades too, but I'm still using my Macs to do work whenever possible.


9 posted on 08/13/2004 8:17:36 AM PDT by D-fendr
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To: Jonah Johansen
... my point is that Apple has done some pretty rotten things over the years which its boosters tend to ignore.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

10 posted on 08/13/2004 8:22:24 AM PDT by balrog666 (A public service post.)
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To: r9etb
With the iPod, it appears that Apple has made at least part of itself as attractive to hackers as Microsoft has done.

Namely, they grabbed a significant piece of a market.

11 posted on 08/13/2004 8:27:43 AM PDT by Physicist
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To: Physicist
Huh? I have quite a few songs downloaded from iTunes, and I can burn them to CD where they'll play in any CD player. I can authorize up to five other computers on my network to play the songs off of my computer anytime they want, and I can burn a song as many times as I wish. The only limitation is I can only burn the same playlist 10 times.

What the guy broke was an encryption code for an audio out jack on Airport Express that allows a stereo to play music from your Mac without having to actually hook the computer up to the stereo (you hook the Airport Express up instead).

The limitation he broke was that RealNetworks spyware and popup window manufacturing program called "RealPlayer" would be able to use the hack to use the same audio out jack as iTunes.

In terms of practical effect, I don't see it having any effect whatsoever. iTunes is far better than any other music playing program, so most Mac users never look at third party software for music playing.

The hack this guy made had nothing to do with what you can do with your mp3's or mp4s.

12 posted on 08/13/2004 8:32:53 AM PDT by Richard Kimball (We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men are ready to do violence on our behalf)
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To: Yehuda
The oldest PowerBook that Mac OS X 10.3.x Panther will run on, and be useful, is the Pismo G3 400MHz with maximum RAM. http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/pismo.shtml

The oldest iBook that Mac OS X 10.3.x Panther will run on, and be useful, is the all white "Dual USB" G3 500MHz with maximum RAM. http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/ibook3.html

The Power Mac G4 450MHz will run well with Mac OS X 10.3.x Panther, with 1.5GB RAM, 2.0GB if you can manage it. http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/g4saw.shtml

The installation should include Mac OS 9.2.2. We create three partitions of the hard drive. The first partition is for Mac OS 9.2.2; the second partition is for the Panther installation; and the third partition is a backup partition to which we routinely back up our data.

Your copies of Microsoft Office 2001 and Adobe Photoshop 5.x.x etc., when installed on the Mac OS 9 "side," can be run while operating the computer on Mac OS X. Mac OS 9 can be started from Mac OS X, and Mac OS 9 then runs on top of Mac OS X.

Suggested reading:

http://www.macattorney.com/panther.html

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/

http://www.osxguide.com/

http://www.osxfaq.com/

Get yourselves some books:

Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596006152/qid=1092411311/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-5277599-2247923?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Mac OS X Hints: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596004516/qid=1092411367/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5277599-2247923?v=glance&s=books

UNIX for Mac: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076453730X/qid=1092411403/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-5277599-2247923?v=glance&s=books

13 posted on 08/13/2004 8:38:48 AM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)
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To: Physicist
Namely, they grabbed a significant piece of a market.

Yup -- and at the same time the pissed off some "open source" advocate. This seems to be a common thread with hacker types. That's not a knock on open-source, BTW, just a commentary on the religious fervor that some folks bring to that particular table.

14 posted on 08/13/2004 8:40:12 AM PDT by r9etb
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To: Yehuda
P.S.

You should have at least 30GB of hard drive.

To find new hard drives for Mac PowerBooks and iBooks, try Developer Depot: http://www.devdepot.com/powerbookdepot.html

For Power Mac hard drives, I'd recommend this as a minimum: http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=454531

15 posted on 08/13/2004 8:46:34 AM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)
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To: D-fendr; Jonah Johansen
You're right on some parts, the clone 'experiment' and dealer networks,

The clone wars were started when Jobs was out of Apple. The management that took over when Jobs left the first time was turning Apple into another beige box PC Clone. Jobs wanted to take Apple back to it's creative roots. The management team that took over from Jobs were a bunch of Kmart assistant managers that were bankrupting the company. He killed the clones and started the OSX stuff. This was a change in direction, but it also came with a complete changeover in management.

Apple going proprietary on the dealer network has been a good thing for me. When I was dealing with CompUSA, they didn't have clue one about anything. When I go to an Apple Store, their people know what they're talking about. Example: Power up problem on eMac. CompUSA wanted to replace the power supply. Apple Store showed me an internal reset button that fixed the problem in about five seconds.

16 posted on 08/13/2004 8:47:21 AM PDT by Richard Kimball (We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men are ready to do violence on our behalf)
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To: Richard Kimball
In terms of practical effect, I don't see it having any effect whatsoever. iTunes is far better than any other music playing program, so most Mac users never look at third party software for music playing.

We don't know that until they're given the opportunity. Now we'll see.

The hack this guy made had nothing to do with what you can do with your mp3's or mp4s.

Won't slice my cabbage, either. Guess it's useless.

17 posted on 08/13/2004 8:52:51 AM PDT by Physicist
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To: Jonah Johansen
I am not trying to start an argument about which is better Mac's or PCs, my point is that Apple has done some pretty rotten things over the years which its boosters tend to ignore.

Any closed system of hardware and software can be more reliable that the wild and wooly PC world. Going with apple is like living in a plastic bubble. The germs won't get you.

18 posted on 08/13/2004 8:58:36 AM PDT by js1138 (In a minute there is time, for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. J Forbes Kerry)
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Comment #19 Removed by Moderator

To: Yehuda
IMHO, you should use the most likely candidate, the Power Mac G4, and make it your first Mac OS X machine.

TIP: Buy Kingston RAM for it. The RAM must all be the same brand. You could use Centon brand or what Apple sells, but you will have headaches if you mix brands.

TIP: There's a firmware update for some older Power Mac G4's, and you must check with the Apple website to find out if a firmware update is available for your Power Mac G4, and install it before attempting the Mac OS X installation.

You really need to sit down and read everything that the O'Reilly book has about installing Mac OS X. You should probably also get their book for Mac OS X 10.2.x Jaguar and read its installation section(s), too.

TIP: Don't take any shortcuts --- do the fresh installation --- initialize the disk prior to installation (and prior to partitioning the disk).

TIP: I wasn't kidding when I said that you need at least 30GB of disk space.

The Mac OS X 10.3 Panther Finder is a different engine than Mac OS 9.2.2's, but it is still much like the old Finder, on enough of the basics.

Yet, the Finder is a shell application for the UNIX Mac core, just like GNOME or KDE are shell "Finders" for the UNIX Linus core.

The new Mac's are UNIX machines, and you will have to learn about some of their UNIX-like commands, plenty of which are the same commands used on Linux OS boxes.

TIP: Keep a written log of everything you do, because you are going to need to consult it; we call them "build records." You will eventually get the hang of using a well-edited and revised build record, as a guideline for future installations.

TIP: You will very much need a high-speed connection to the Internet, to download the many updates from Apple; the files are large.

We do not use their automated software update; instead, we update manually, because it affords us much better control, given the state of Internet connections, even with a high-speed connection.

Find a friend or neighbor or household that has a high-speed connection and take the Mac there; you'll be glad that you did. Because otherwise, you could spend three days installing all the software.

TIP: We do not use Symantec Norton Utilities. We use AlSoft's DiskWarrior 3.0.x. We do not use TechTool Pro. We do use Norton Anti-Virus 9.0.x.

20 posted on 08/13/2004 1:15:49 PM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)
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