Yes, iTunes-purchased songs are no longer encumbered with DRM, but don’t think that gives you free reign to put songs on your peer-to-peer network of choice all willy nilly. That’s because, while there’s no DRM to prevent you from sharing the songs with other people per se, the songs still have some of your personal information embedded in there.
What’s the personal information? Your e-mail address, for one. That means if tedthelightbulbexpert@gmail.com bought a song from iTunes, then puts it in his Limwire shared folder, some kid who downloads it from there will have Ted’s e-mail address. That’s not exactly super sensitive information, but it could put off some people.
Remember, just because a song is DRM-free doesn’t mean it’s copyright-free.
via Slashdot
I give it two days with the new format before a data stripper is released.
I get all my mp3s from Ted’s MP3 Emporium. Frrrrrunkis!
El Boberino, I hope you are joking. Some of that money goes to the artists and they deserve it.
Metadata strippers already exist for iTunes tracks – find them yourself.
If you are peer to peering the music, you deserve to have your email out there. People like that make products (like music) more expensive for everyone. If your not doing that, then there’s really no issue. It’s a way for Apple to keep track of your purchases and if they are played on your own equipment then no one gets your info who doesn’t already have it.
Last comment – I have seen many many many cases of entire hard drives of data lost because of Limewire. The files you get may carry malware or just plain be corrupted, and the files you serve can cause a lot of excess wear and tear on your drive. You get what you pay for. Pay for your entertainment. This “music should be free” attitude is a disgusting commentary on modern society.
I have been dj’ing for 16 years, and digitally since Christmas 2005. All of my digital tracks have been DRM free, and exactly 0.00% of them I torrent. The dance community is primarily made up of young hip tech savvy folks, and we seem to be doing fine.
One should never assume DRM in any form, including itunes metadata tags, should EVER be trusted. I want my files clean, and I paid for them to be that way. The masses should be inherently trusted, not treated like criminals. Nor should I have to pay for every format of the same thing.
This is NOT metadata !! This information will be watermarked.
Also, your iTunes purchased songs “may” contain all of your iTunes account info such as credit card number !!
It will not be possible to easily find the data watermarked within a song, so Joe Downloader will not really be able to get at your info. However, if a nefarious person/group does create a utility to grab the watermarked data, it would be very likely that it could be used to steal your identity.
What’s that? You would never share your songs!?! Ever had your computer stolen ??
Here’s how to clear your personal information from an iTunes Plus m4a file:
First, you’ll need to clear the Apple ID field (usually just your email address) and purchase date (which is different from the iTunes “Date Added” field)
- Download AtomicParsley [http://atomicparsley.sourceforge.net/] and unzip it.
- Open a Terminal window (it’s in Applications/Utilities)
- Drag the AtomicParsley application’s icon into the Terminal window. Do not hit enter.
- Drag the m4a file into the Terminal window. Do not hit enter.
- Enter the following command. Note that the dashes before “manualAtomRemove” are double dashes, even though they may not be displayed as such here because of HTML encoding.
–manualAtomRemove “moov.udta.meta.ilst.apID” –manualAtomRemove “moov.udta.meta.ilst.purd” -W
- Hit Enter
Now, you still need to remove your name:
- Install HexFiend [http://ridiculousfish.com/hexfiend/]
- Open the file in HexFiend
- Find your name
- Replace those characters with the exact same number of periods.
- Save the file
Other than your email, Apple may also have hidden other identifying numbers in the track.
I think it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. I use an M4a to Mp3 converter to convert iTunes files into normal MP3 files & strip out all possible hidden information. I find no audible loss in sound quality, at all.
What really burns me up about this is how Apple are doing something which no one else is doing! 7digital, Amazon, emusic etc. sell legal Mp3’s with no personal information stored in the file what-so-ever, but Apple insists on invading my privacy!
I’ve always disliked Apple & this action has only served to confirm my dislike.