Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Apple, Napster Swap Jabs Over Security Flaws

Apple, Napster Swap Jabs Over Security Flaws

Apparently, Steve Jobs sent a message to top record industry executives directing them to "a Web page detailing how to convert Napster's rental tunes into permanent downloads." I'm not sure what page he is referring to but it could be something like All-Streaming-Media.

Napster CEO Chris Gorog jabbed back by pointing out that the same technique could be used to capture iTunes music and in fact, it's even easier to unlock most iTunes downloads using Hymn. Hymn is open-source, free software that attempts to remove the Digital Rights Management (DRM) from Apple's AAC files. Of course once the DRM is removed, users can swap files with their friends or move the music on to (unauthorized) machines.

There has been an ongoing battle between Apple and Hymn. I can't believe that Jobs would be so dense as to throw rocks from his glass house. I thought Steve was smarter than that.

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