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THE CORPORATE POLICE STATE: ITUNES WATERMARKS DRM-FREE WITH USERS NAME
AND EMAIL ADDRESS
CYRUS FARIVAR, WIRED - Itunes Apple has declined to explain why its new
DRM - free music files are watermarked with users' names and e-mail
addresses.
Earlier this week, Apple Itunes 7.2 brought the new ability to download
tracks from EMI Records without copy protection. But the unprotected
files are labeled with the buyer's details, leading some to wonder if
Apple is appending the information as an anti-piracy measure. But Apple
is remaining mum about its reasoning.
An Apple spokesman suggested by e-mail that Wired News contact Michael
Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research who has been briefed about
Itunes Plus. The Apple spokesman didn't respond to further requests for
comment.
Gartenberg said there are many reasons why Apple would want to tag music
sold through the Itunes store. The information could be used as a proof
of purchase, or to facilitate upgrades (songs previously bought through
Itunes can be upgraded to higher fidelity versions for an extra 30
cents). The identifier could help identify songs missing from albums
(Itunes offers a "complete album" feature), as well as to thwart piracy.
. .
"There's absolutely no reason that it had to be embedded, unencrypted
and in the clear," said Fred von Lohmann, a senior intellectual property
attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Some of the privacy
problems, in light of this, is that anyone who steals an Ipod that
includes purchased Itunes music will now have the name and e-mail
address of its rightful owner."
http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/06/no_explanation_.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE CORPORATE POLICE STATE: ITUNES WATERMARKS DRM-FREE WITH USERS NAME
AND EMAIL ADDRESS
CYRUS FARIVAR, WIRED - Itunes Apple has declined to explain why its new
DRM - free music files are watermarked with users' names and e-mail
addresses.
Earlier this week, Apple Itunes 7.2 brought the new ability to download
tracks from EMI Records without copy protection. But the unprotected
files are labeled with the buyer's details, leading some to wonder if
Apple is appending the information as an anti-piracy measure. But Apple
is remaining mum about its reasoning.
An Apple spokesman suggested by e-mail that Wired News contact Michael
Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research who has been briefed about
Itunes Plus. The Apple spokesman didn't respond to further requests for
comment.
Gartenberg said there are many reasons why Apple would want to tag music
sold through the Itunes store. The information could be used as a proof
of purchase, or to facilitate upgrades (songs previously bought through
Itunes can be upgraded to higher fidelity versions for an extra 30
cents). The identifier could help identify songs missing from albums
(Itunes offers a "complete album" feature), as well as to thwart piracy.
. .
"There's absolutely no reason that it had to be embedded, unencrypted
and in the clear," said Fred von Lohmann, a senior intellectual property
attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Some of the privacy
problems, in light of this, is that anyone who steals an Ipod that
includes purchased Itunes music will now have the name and e-mail
address of its rightful owner."
http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/06/no_explanation_.html
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