“America Online yesterday removed from the Web site of its Winamp media player a software plug-in that is reportedly being used to make unauthorized copies of tunes from the Napster To Go subscription service,” John P. Mello Jr. reports for TechNewsWorld. “According to AOL spokesperson Ann Burkart, the offending applet, Output Stacker, has been taken down from the Winamp site. ‘We are also working with Microsoft to ensure Winamp continues to provide secure playback of Windows Media content,’ she told TechNewsWorld.”
“The mischievous potential of the Winamp plug-in came to light after several Web sites, such as BoingBoing and Engadget, posted how-to’s on using the program to capture online audio from a computer’s sound card, a process known as ‘stream ripping,'” Mello Jr. reports. “‘As long as we listen to music through our ears and watch video through our eyes, there’s going to be a way to get around any security scheme,’ Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst for the Enderle Group in San Jose, California, told TechNewsWorld. ‘All you have to do is convert it to analog feed.'”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Napster feels the heat over flawed copy-protection scheme – February 17, 2005
Apple CEO Steve Jobs warns record industry of Napster To Go’s security gap – February 16, 2005
Users thwart Napster To Go’s copy protection; do the music labels realize the piracy potential? – February 15, 2005
Napster-To-Go’s ‘rental music’ DRM circumvented – February 14, 2005
Napster CEO Gorog: ‘it’s stupid to buy an iPod’ – February 10, 2005
