Protected AAC

[Patrick Y.]

Just curious, is ther any program that can play protected aac? :?: I haven't tried Betaplayer yet, but others told me that it will not.

[Janak Parekh]

No. The only way to play protected AAC is to remove the DRM first, and then play it as unprotected AAC.

(And while there are tools that do just that, please don't link to them here. Thanks. :))

--janak

[Patrick Y.]

I wonder why Apple have to be so stingy. :evil:

Also, thanks. :D

-Edit- Is the solution you mentioned legal?

[surur]

I cant give you legal advice, but I believe the problem really only apply currently if you are American. The DMCA made distribution of circumvention devices illegal. I don't know if it says anything about possession however.

Morally I would say you have every right to remove the copy protection from your files if you have no intention to distribute the result.

Surur

[Janak Parekh]

I wonder why Apple have to be so stingy. :evil:
They believe having a closed platform is in their best interests: control both the distribution and the devices on which the music plays.

Given the current fragmented Windows Media DRM model, I'm not sure it's any better, despite the platform being less closed. Right now I'm not all that thrilled with any DRM model, so I only purchase a few things from the iTunes Music Store, and buy CDs and rip them otherwise.

-Edit- Is the solution you mentioned legal?
That's a good question. As Surur implies (and, I am also not a lawyer, so I can't give you legal advice either), I think it's in a grey area. The practical upshot is if you were to remove the DRM from the files and keep it to yourself, you're not about to get arrested; after all, you could (completely legally!) burn the tracks to CD and rerip them for use on your Pocket PC. However, if you were to distribute the DRM-stripped files, you'd be in a world of trouble.

(Please note that I'm not condoning DRM stripping; that's something you will have to decide the practicality and safety of on your own, and I (we?) can't be held responsible if something bad comes out of it. If you're uncomfortable with using such a tool, just burn the tracks and rerip them.)

--janak

[Patrick Y.]

Now I understand your proposals. Thanks for the advices. :D :)

[stevelam]

Don't you lose quality if you burn and re-rip??

[Janak Parekh]

Don't you lose quality if you burn and re-rip??
Yes, you would.

--janak

[stevelam]

Don't you lose quality if you burn and re-rip??
Yes, you would.

--janak

Would it be noticable?

[surur]

Not to most people. Why don't you google around for other ways to remove drm from apple itunes files?

Surur