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Napster-To-Go’s ‘rental music’ DRM circumvented
Monday, February 14, 2005 - 07:50 PM EST

"You know, if you sign up for Napster-to-Go and don't realize that your music is going to disappear when you stop paying them money, you're not a victim of the bloodsucking media barons—you're a tard," Gizmodo writes. "Here's a way to record music you're getting from Napster-to-Go into WAV files, to be burned to CDs or re-encoded to your compressed music file of choice."

Gizmodo links to "marv on record's" step-by-step instructions on how to rather easily circumvent Napster's Microsoft JANUS DRM. Full article here.

Find "marv on record's burning through Napster's collection for free" instructions here.

MacDailyNews Take: The obvious has happened and rather quickly, too. Let's see how the music industry likes Napster-To-Go, Microsoft's JANUS DRM, and the "rental" model now. Hint for music industry execs: if you can hear the music, the music can and will be recorded regardless of the DRM. The best way to make "rental" music's DRM work is to rent music that people cannot hear or is of a quality that's so bad it's not worth recording. Does that sound like a good business model to you?

Related MacDailyNews articles:
'Napster To Go' forces you to pay to keep your existing music - February 14, 2005

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Feb 14, 05 - 08:07 pm Comment from: NoMacForYou

Cool! I have been waiting for someone to do this ever since I noticed that Napster carries the entire collection of Hanson records ever made. Awesome!

Feb 14, 05 - 08:08 pm Comment from: NoMacForYou

...oops, I posted too early.

I meant to say that I'm signing up for NapsterToGo%reg; today! That is so cool, dudes.

Feb 14, 05 - 08:09 pm Comment from: Snugfig

We should have had a running ticker to see how long it took for "Janus" to be circumvented. Does anyone know of a ticker for the delivery date of Loooooooonghorn?

Feb 14, 05 - 08:11 pm Comment from: lisa

Hey, loser. Don't you even know simple HTML? It's "NapsterToGo®"

Feb 14, 05 - 08:13 pm Comment from: Ben

How do you circumcise a DRM?

Feb 14, 05 - 08:16 pm Comment from: The Cat

This was Napster's grand scheme from the very beginning. smile

Shall we call it Napter's Revenge?! HE HE HEE.......... LOL LOL

Feb 14, 05 - 08:17 pm Comment from: Chomper

First post®

Feb 14, 05 - 08:17 pm Comment from: Mac the Sponge

Well that didn't take long, even by "Internet time" standards.

I wonder how many lawsuits will be filed when the courts open tomorrow.

Today's magic word: SHUTDOWN

Feb 14, 05 - 08:18 pm Comment from: DanK

Ben-
:Sigh: you made a perfect set up for so many jokes and I got nothing.

I guess I am getting old.

Feb 14, 05 - 08:20 pm Comment from: JB

Cool. Too bad the sound quality will suck after you've re-encoded a previously WMA compressed song back on to your computer though. I'll just stick with iTunes instead. But here's hoping it'll piss off the RIAA enough to get Napster in some deep sh*t.

Feb 14, 05 - 08:25 pm Comment from: Rob

If this doesn't prove that Microsoft and DRM (and security of all types for that matter) are contradictory of one another then I don't know what does. The day Microsoft makes anything that is "secure" will be the same day that pigs fly...

Feb 14, 05 - 08:28 pm Comment from: Paul Thurrot

JB: WMA© is so superior to AAC in every respect that even re-encoding a WMA© song several times would still result in an acoustically superior specimen compared to anything you could get from iTunes®. At least, that's what I've found after listening to both through my Dell®'s speakers.

Feb 14, 05 - 08:29 pm Comment from: JJ

"you're a tard" ...

That's funny ...!

Feb 14, 05 - 08:30 pm Comment from: Peter

"Circumvented"? Nah...

I could make the same claim about Apple's FairPlay DRM. I could use Audio Hijack to snag the audio. Of course, I've already payed Apple for the song, so it really doesn't matter.

What's interesting is that, according to Napster's End-User License Agreement, Napster tracks the number of times each song is played in order to give the money to the owners of the song (ie, the Record Companies). So when you plug in your music player once a month, it will report back to Napster what songs you listened to and how many times you listened to them.

Also, Marv's comment that the music was obtained legally, that's a bit debatable. IANAL, but the Napster EULA also explicitly states that the music you download is owned by Napster, not by you.

Feb 14, 05 - 08:50 pm Comment from: MacDan2004

As has been mentioned - this can be done with ANYTHING that can be heard from your computer, regardless of DRM - yes, even with iTunes. However, it's such a hassle. Why bother. It's so much easier to just use iTunes and buy an iPod. Bam. You're done.

Feb 14, 05 - 08:50 pm Comment from: Gizmo

When you bet your DRM on MS technology (and a goddamn .DLL at that!!!), you deserve your fate.

Feb 14, 05 - 08:52 pm Comment from: R

So as Peter mentions-- if you play it once and hijack it, what's going to happen to the royalties? Napster will save a few bucks-- $15 in a month, a penny out?

Yikes, what a future this scheme has...

Feb 14, 05 - 08:58 pm Comment from: Buffy

Any lock made through software can be broken by software. DRM has to be so light that it is unnoticable (Fairplay) or so tough no one can use it.

the "new" Napster feeding the "old" Napster's offspring. Very ironic.

Feb 14, 05 - 09:18 pm Comment from: mike

I can't believe no one's said this yet.



BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I can hear Record Execs tearing up their contracts.. lmfao

Feb 14, 05 - 09:24 pm Comment from: hackmanship

Send out this out to all news sites pronto. (CNET's got it)

This HAS to be propagated.

Feb 14, 05 - 09:27 pm Comment from: david

Some people on the site actually like hanson. (I'm not joking. They really are good if people gave them a chance). I mean, they write there own songs, what pop stars actually do that?
David

Feb 14, 05 - 09:32 pm Comment from: iSteve

It shouldn't take long for the DRM to be broken to the point where someone doens't have to go to the trouble to re-record all the music. Someone will figure out how to simply keep the music on their computer & portable

Feb 14, 05 - 09:33 pm Comment from: NoMacForYou

I totally like Hanson. I even mentioned them in my first post. Next to Ashlee Simpson, Hanson is like totally my fav!
tongue rolleye

Feb 14, 05 - 11:32 pm Comment from: JadisOne

Since Napster spent so much money on a stupid Superbowl commercial, I am sure they no longer have a legal department to send a cease and desist letter to the poor chap who runs that website.

Feb 14, 05 - 11:43 pm Comment from: Alec

And so Napster comes full circle.

Feb 15, 05 - 12:39 am Comment from: Peter

"Some people on the site actually like hanson. [...] they write there own songs, what pop stars actually do that?"

<objects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=50472&selectedItemId=50450">MMMBop</A>.

'nuff said.

Feb 15, 05 - 12:52 am Comment from: Al

It was first posted on the 5th of Feb. They grabbed the tunes from a 2 week free trial. Estimated over 11,000 tunes downloaded, played once, recorded as a lossless WAV file and burned to CD. All free and untraceable by the RIAA.

The RIAA will shut Napster down before they run out of stockholders money.

Big surprise there.

Feb 15, 05 - 01:28 am Comment from: Peter

"if you play it once and hijack it, what's going to happen to the royalties? Napster will save a few bucks-- $15 in a month, a penny out?"

That's what I was thinking, too. You sign up for a month, download everything you can get your hands on, re-record it, and exit the agreement.

Napster gets it's $15, so they're happy. You get about 10,000 songs (that's about a month's worth of music--43,000 minutes in a month) so you're happy. The Record Companies get screwed.

I wonder how thrilled they'll be that they signed that agreement with Napster....

Feb 15, 05 - 02:18 am Comment from: Nobody

"Circumvented"? Nah...

I could make the same claim about Apple's FairPlay DRM. I could use Audio Hijack to snag the audio. Of course, I've already payed Apple for the song, so it really doesn't matter.


Apple's DRM already allows the removal of the DRM legally and easily. The only question is which method (i.e. Hymn vs. CD burning vs. iMovie vs. WireTap) is allowed under the Term of Use. Thus, Apple's DRM is not so much as circumvented. Napster To Go+Janus, OTOH, sells subscription license and therefore, no DRM removal is allowed at all. Thus, this technique counts as circumventing (getting around) the DRM.

Feb 15, 05 - 03:13 am Comment from: Pete

Napster knew this would happen - I can't believe record companies bought the whole M$ DRM crap, believing that it would prevent people ripping tracks.

Someone should sue Napster for discrimination against Macs - I mean if PC users can get tracks free, I want them too ...

Feb 15, 05 - 03:26 am Comment from: Solar Flare

What all these companies need - including Apple is some sort of hardware DRM.

Software DRM's are as useless as software firewalls!

Feb 15, 05 - 03:36 am Comment from: Jack A

Wow that was fast. Now lets see what the record companies do. With iTunes you are at least assured that any song that has its DRM tampered with has been at least paid for once at a dollar a pop. So to steal 100 dollars worth of songs you need to pay 100 dollars. A pretty good deterrent to whole scale larceny.

With this Napster deal you could pay 15 dollars and steal literally thousands of songs.

As for Microsoft coming up with something that is secure.... Just look at Bill Gates. Does he look secure to you?

Feb 15, 05 - 03:46 am Comment from: It's a Mac

It's not Napster's fault Janus is shit.

I want to see the RIAA go up against MS

Feb 15, 05 - 07:01 am Comment from: wandering joe

Microsofts drm is called jAnus, just as in iTunes

Feb 15, 05 - 09:45 am Comment from: The Doctor

DRM = DRM
Circumcised DRM = RM = Rightous Music

Feb 15, 05 - 09:55 am Comment from: Inquisitive One

Now, does this apply to all of Napsters music, or just the music under the "Napster to Go" service?
Thanks....

Feb 15, 05 - 10:21 am Comment from: Nurse

The Doctor:

"DRM = DRM
Circumcised DRM = RM = Rightous Music"


DRM = DRM
Circumcised Anything = Mutilation

Feb 15, 05 - 10:52 am Comment from: NoMacForYou

What is "circumcised"?

We haven't covered that in health class yet.

Feb 15, 05 - 11:03 am Comment from: rogozhin

I want to see the RIAA go up against MS

So would I, but only if it was a 'Thunderdome' style fight...

Feb 15, 05 - 12:26 pm Comment from: rth

Bad kitty! Bad!

Feb 15, 05 - 12:29 pm Comment from: g$

It's obvious the RIAA doesn't feel the same way about iTunes, given the exposure that iTunes got during the Grampys, er... I mean Grammys. I'm sure we'll hear something soon regarding their opinion of Napster and Hugh Janus.

Feb 15, 05 - 12:33 pm Comment from: NoMacForYou

I have a Hugh Janus, too.

Feb 15, 05 - 05:28 pm Comment from: Jack A

Janus - the two faced god of gates. Really! Look it up.

Feb 15, 05 - 08:22 pm Comment from: Tempus Fugit

"From: Alec
And so Napster comes full circle."

subtle, Alec... and very good too!

Feb 15, 05 - 08:26 pm Comment from: Tempus Fugit

"From: Jack A
Janus - the two faced god of gates. Really! Look it up."

b'golly, Jack... you're right! i wonder if they really thoroughy considered all the jokes that were going to be made of this name choice... at M$ and Gates expense, of course.

Feb 16, 05 - 09:27 am Comment from: CTO

This is an authentic note posted on the Napster web site:

A note from Napster's CTO

It has come to our attention that there are a number of inaccurate statements posted by various sources on the Internet regarding the security of Napster and Napster To Go. As Napster's CTO, I would like to officially state that neither Napster To Go, Napster, nor Windows Media DRM have been hacked. In the interest of providing the most accurate information to consumers, the following is some background on the subject.

There is a program that allows a user to record the playback of tracks directly from the computer's sound card. This process can be likened to the way people used to record songs from the radio onto cassette tapes, but instead of capturing the music on a tape, the file is converted into a new, unprotected digital format. This program does not break the encryption of the files, which can only be recorded one at a time making the process quite laborious. It would take 10 hours to convert 10 hours of music in this manner. It is important to note that this program is not specific to Napster; files from all legal subscription and pay-per-download services can be copied in this way.

We hope that the information provided above clarifies the matter and puts questions regarding the security of Napster and Napster To Go to rest. Napster's mission is to provide consumers with a legal environment in which they can experience and discover the world's largest collection of digital music. We believe that artists should be compensated for their work and intellectual property rights should be respected. While we acknowledge there are always going to be those who do not share our belief, we remain committed to providing the most enjoyable and flexible digital music experience for those who do.

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With respect :p, Charlene.

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