The back and forth between Apple’s iTunes and the makers of the PyMusique hack continues. On Monday, news broke of PyMusique and its capability to block the installation of iTunes DRM files, which are placed on songs while they are being downloaded.
Towards the end of the day, it was announced Apple closed the security hole PyMusique exploits. However, the makers of PyMusique did not take Apple’s return volley without their own response. The group, led by the infamous DVD Jon, released an update that allows PyMusique function as intended, undoubtedly much to Apple’s chagrin.
On their Realm of The BlackBlade Clan blog, the programmers who developed PyMusique explained their position:
What it does
PyMusique purchases songs from the iTunes Music Store. Yes, purchases. We get the files without DRM and we leave them that way, unlike the official iTunes client.
Why we created it
PyMusique was created to provide access to the iTunes Music Store from alternative OS’s such as Linux, BeOS, and even cell phones. I assumed that the DRM was done server-side until I started working on implementing purchasing in PHPTunes, the precursor to PyMusique. Our intent was not to circumvent copy protection, and if Apple did DRM on the server, we would leave it in place! But applying DRM in an opensource project is not worth the time it would take to code it.
Now we wait to see what Apple does next. They will undoubtedly try to close this and any other potential holes used by PyMusique, and these actions will be no doubt be countered by the anti-DRM crew. The question is, how long will this circle continue?
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
