DRM got you down? Fix it!

Dan Gayle

Design Director

In my last article I spoke about the woes of DRM that are plaguing people such as our very own Pop Culture Genius and students here on SCC’s campus. I’d like to address solutions to this mess that we are so voluntarily getting ourselves into by showing you ways that others have managed to manage their DRM-woes. I caution you that neither Apple Computer, the State of Washington, nor the United States of America entirely sanction these activities, so I insist that you DO NOT try these things at home. This is for educational purposes only :)

First of all, Bit Torrent. For those of you in the know, ‘nuff said. As for the rest of you, take a visit to www.slyck.com and read their guide to Bit Torrent. Their site is a very informational guide to peer-to-peer technology and news from here in America and from around the globe.

If the idea of peer-to-peer file sharing scares you, there are two software solutions to end-around the DRM that Apple cripples their files with. The first is called Jhymn. Why use Jhymn? Their website (http://hymn-project.org) answers these questions for us:

1. To decrypt your iTunes protected AAC files so that they can be played on operating systems for which no official version of iTunes exists, such as Linux.

2. To use non-Apple AAC-capable hardware to play your music.

3. To eliminate the five-computer limit imposed by iTunes.

4. To make archival backups of your music.

5. As the first step in converting your music from protected AAC to MP3, Ogg, or your other favorite audio file format, for use with your non-iPod portable audio player.

6. To demonstrate your belief in the principles of fair-use under copyright law.

Jhymn is a back-end solution that utilizes iTunes’ connection to Apple to decode the DRM as it is downloaded to your computer. As of right now, Apple’s iTunes 6.0 eliminates the ability to use Jhymn, so you may wish to delay upgrading so that you can continue to decode your music until a new solution is found.

Another software solution out there is called Hot Recorder (www.hotrecorder.com). How Hot Recorder works is that it takes the audio stream being sent through your computer’s system and copies it to a separate .MP3 file. Because of limitations to your hardware, noise and degeneration of the signal are possible outcomes of using this program to free yourselves from DRM.

If you want the one and only acknowledged quasi-legal way to get rid of DRM, just burn your files to an audio disk. If you then re-rip your songs to a loss-less format such as ACC you will have successfully rid yourself of any and all DRM that had been so graciously bestowed upon you by Apple. It might be a waste of CD’s, but you needed back-ups anyway right?

DRM sucks. There are no two ways about. Thankfully, others with brain capacity far above ours have come up with limited solutions. Again, I must insist that you don’t try any of these things at home, but if you do, you didn’t hear it from me.