08-17-2008, 10:00 AM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 519
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The Online Music Ripoff
"Why is DRM so contentious? Surely it's designed to protect the rights of artists and record companies in a climate where, as one international music industry body claims, illegal downloads swamp legitimate music store downloads by a ratio of 20 to 1? The problem is DRM doesn't affect the pirates, who upload and download DRM-free files often ripped directly from CD. Instead, it affects legitimate buyers in a range of deeply irritating ways. The first roadblock comes down to Gates' talk of "simplicity" and "interoperability", or rather the lack of both" 
I think most people who know anything about DRM hate it. They hate dealing with the limitations of the technology, both intentionally built-in or as a direct result of poor technical planning/implementation. Unlike a good protection scheme which is invisible to the end user, DRM is too limiting to the average customer, and does nothing to stop hardcore music pirates. Plus, when a store goes down and its licenses stop renewing, the customer is the real loser. Sure you can burn your songs to a CD and re-rip them (or do it virtually), but the process is time-consuming and you lose audio fidelity. Another option is to free your purchased music using tools like FairUse4WM (above) or Hymn, or just buy DRM-free in the first place. Check out the article if you need yet another reason to hate DRM.
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08-17-2008, 02:45 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 10
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FairUse4WM Dead?
I thought that Windows Updates made FairUse4WM unusable for updated computers quite some time ago. I don't think it is an option any further.
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08-18-2008, 01:57 AM
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Banned
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 372
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alcedes78
I thought that Windows Updates made FairUse4WM unusable for updated computers quite some time ago. I don't think it is an option any further.
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that is ture, and I think black coats from Redmond shuffled away the author which is why there haven't been any updates in a long time.
I'm waitng for the day someone cracks Zune Pass.
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08-18-2008, 02:06 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by inteller
I'm waitng for the day someone cracks Zune Pass.
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Zune Pass or Zune Marketplace? I'd like to see Zune Marketplace tracks cracked so people can purchase their songs DRM-free.
...but Zune Pass? Why, so someone can pay $15 for one month, download 1000+ songs, and crack the DRM then cancel their Zune Pass? Doesn't seem very ethical to me - they might as get the songs from P2P networks. 
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08-18-2008, 06:07 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 23
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i have to agree with jason. in my opinion any subscription service for music should not be hacked, but it should be drmed. i know if i were to purchase music from an online store, i would expect it to be drm free.
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08-18-2008, 06:37 AM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 519
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alcedes78
I thought that Windows Updates made FairUse4WM unusable for updated computers quite some time ago. I don't think it is an option any further.
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Nope, it still works for me. You can also use drmdbg (the command line equivalent of FU4WM), which works with the latest.
Inteller: Though Microsoft tried to to sue Viodentia (the author) as 10 John Does, they dropped the suit earlier this year. And because Zune Marketplace/Pass DRM relies on the PlaysForSure DRM components, if you can unDRM from Napster, Rhapsody, et. al, you can unDRM from Zune. I still like to have the option of removing DRM from the ocassional track I purchase from the Marketplace that isn't yet available in MP3. I do agree with the concept that subscription music should be properly protected, and all a-la-carte music should be DRM free, however.
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08-18-2008, 05:58 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 10
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FairUse doesn't work with any of the Vista versions of WMP and only some of the XP versions.
If you never install WMP updates or if you run an old version of WMP within a virtual PC under Vista then you'll still be ok.
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08-18-2008, 05:59 PM
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Banned
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 372
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
Zune Pass or Zune Marketplace? I'd like to see Zune Marketplace tracks cracked so people can purchase their songs DRM-free.
...but Zune Pass? Why, so someone can pay $15 for one month, download 1000+ songs, and crack the DRM then cancel their Zune Pass? Doesn't seem very ethical to me - they might as get the songs from P2P networks. |
we're talking about bypassing a DRM system here and we are talking about ethics? DRM is DRM, whether you "purchase" it or "rent" it. If you want to circumvent some DRM you might as well talk about all DRM because once the line is crossed it is crossed.
when napster had a subscription service and fairuse4wm came out, that was exactly what people did....they got a napster supscription and downloaded 1000s of songs, then broke the DRM.
and just below this post, another user states that command line version works with the current PFS DRM....if it were to work with Zune Pass DRM it would open the floodgates.
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08-18-2008, 07:13 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 519
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gjw
FairUse doesn't work with any of the Vista versions of WMP and only some of the XP versions.
If you never install WMP updates or if you run an old version of WMP within a virtual PC under Vista then you'll still be ok.
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It's not the version of WMP that is the issue, it's the IBX ("Blackbox") version that has to be 11.0.60xx or less (like 11.0.57xx). You can "roll back" your DRM components on both XP and Vista to the earlier, FairUse-compatible (or rather, Mirakagi-comaptible) IBX.
And again, you can install whatever WMP updates you want, so long as they don't update the IBX components. Doom9 has some good threads on this, if anyone is interested.
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08-18-2008, 10:59 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by inteller
we're talking about bypassing a DRM system here and we are talking about ethics? DRM is DRM, whether you "purchase" it or "rent" it.
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You mean to tell me you can't see the difference between a user removing the DRM on a 99 cent song he purchased, and a user removing the DRM on 1000 songs he rented through a subscription service? It's like the difference between ripping a DVD you bought and ripping every DVD you ever get from Netflix. The ethical difference is crystal clear to me, and I suspect most people.
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Linear Mode
