RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

[mel]

Re: RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

One big advantage of ripping your own music from CDs or downloading MP3s from free, legitimate sites like MySpace.com (OK legitimate is relative here) is the fact that these downloads are DRM free.... they allow you to make as many copies of the song to whatever personal device or media that you own.

When you buy a track from the iTunes Music Store or elsewhere, that track whether it is AAC, WMA or Altrac format is encrypted with DRM limiting software. This limits your ability to play the track to a few devices that you authorize and the number of CDs you can make. AAC is encrypted with Apple's Fairplay; Can't remember what Microsoft's WMA and Sony's Altrac format is encrypted with.

This is the technology that limits your tracks to only an iPod or not to an iPod, but seemingly to other devices such as Sony's MP3 players, Rios, Samsung and what have you.

[666]

Re: RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

Today's music sucks :P

When you are old enough to say that today's music sucks, you are officially over the hill.

I'm over the hill at 17? I knew things were going a little too fast... Even though it will never really take off I think the best way of doing digital downloads is just selling mp3 files without DRM. Between the stupid protection and the inferior encoders I just can't support such crap. Kids just end up burning their iTunes downloads to cds that can be ripped anyway. If you download the current Top 40 garbage off your favorite p2p app you have no real way of telling where it came from, it could be an mp3 emailed to radio programmers, maybe a digital download, or it could be a cd rip. Ya never know unless you're really trying hard to find out. To me it's just another step in the cheapening of our culture, we think we're getting more advanced but really we're not.

[Konaguy]

Re: RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

When you buy a track from the iTunes Music Store or elsewhere, that track whether it is AAC, WMA or Altrac format is encrypted with DRM limiting software. This limits your ability to play the track to a few devices that you authorize and the number of CDs you can make. AAC is encrypted with Apple's Fairplay; Can't remember what Microsoft's WMA and Sony's Altrac format is encrypted with.

Not true,(But there is a caveat, there will be artifacts from the compression
to MP3 format).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay

The protected track may be copied to a standard Audio CD any number of times.

* The resulting CD has no DRM and may be ripped, encoded and distributed like any other CD. However, as the CD audio still bears the artifacts of compression, converting it back into a lossy format such as MP3 may aggravate the sound artifacts of encoding (see transcoding).

[mel]

Re: RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

Not true,(But there is a caveat, there will be artifacts from the compression
to MP3 format).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay

The protected track may be copied to a standard Audio CD any number of times.

* The resulting CD has no DRM and may be ripped, encoded and distributed like any other CD. However, as the CD audio still bears the artifacts of compression, converting it back into a lossy format such as MP3 may aggravate the sound artifacts of encoding (see transcoding).

Yes and No. Certainly I can burn an iTunes store purchased AAC file to CD for an unlimited amount of times like you referenced. The problem is I can only burn a playlist for 7 times max to CD. On the 8th I have to modify the playlist.

From Apple.com

If a playlist contains any songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store, iTunes software restricts the number of times the same playlist may be burned to seven.

Source: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93016

However after the AAC track goes to CD, yes the DRM is stripped and the track can be ripped back to unencrypted MP3. I tried that but was not too happy with the quality of the resulting track. Goes back to the artifacts thing referred to in your post.

I would say about 90% of my tracks are MP3s that I just simply ripped from my own CDs. The rest are either downloaded MP3 freebies from sites such as MySpace.com or AAC's that I bought or got free from the iTunes Music Store.

Has anyone tried to do the same with encrypted tracks from Microsoft (WMA) or Sony (Altrac)?

[Konaguy]

Re: RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

To me, its all about nothing. See I'm not really a audiophile, so I really don't
notice the artifacts resulting from the compression. Whenever I've bought
any of those DRM'ed songs, I burn it to CD and rip them into MP3s. So I avoid
the problem with DRM. I even delete the DRM copy I have, as I really don't
have a use for it.

This is what I use (For Windows only)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos/

[mel]

Re: RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

I keep all of my AAC tracks that I bought from Apple or even got for free. Back em up on other media too. To me they are the precious master tracks..... If I lose those and I haven't bought the original CD they came from.... well, then I don't have a master. But then I am a digital pack rat.

[Konaguy]

Re: RIAA Will Drop Cases If You Point Out That An IP Address Isn't A Person

I burn all my MP3's (316 of them) on to DVD and keep the burned CDs. Along with having them all on my hard drive for easy access. So the DRM copy is not needed by me I just listen to my music when I'mn on the computer or driving in my truck