PlayFair - Stripping AAC DRM

[legion]

Wait wait wait, this isn't illegal! Lending CD's, or VHS tapes, audio tapes, or even DVD's to friends isn't illegal, and even if they copy them, it still isn't illegal.

Back in the days of audio tapes, people were swapping and sharing all over the place.

Sharing/copying CD's, to my knowledge, is legal, so long as it's not done for commercial gain.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but you can to share CD's!

No, sharing/copying CDs is illegal if it is not for your immediate personal use. It's a bit of myth that it's ok if you're not making a profit you can do what you want.

Now breaking any digital encryption (even for personal use) is in direct violation of the DMCA. That's where people are up in arms; it's over fair-use clauses already in law that are becoming invalidated because the DMCA in essence makes even fair-use illegal.

 

[legion]

Also, what if you want to use a player other than iTunes to play your music. Shouldn't you have a choice?

Not according to Apple

 

[dudemac]

This is not the first.

Why has this and QTFairUse been released only for Windows? .

There is a version for Mac. It is called QT convert and I have used it for a while now. It dumps the acc to an aiff file which is huge then I use itunes to reconvert it to MP3 or acc. It is pretty simple. Then I just delete the aiff file. This version does the same thing but it cleans up after itself. Automation make things easier for users. However I don't see this a circumvention of the DRM because you still have to be authorized to use the music before you can convert it. Plus it allows people that don't own an iPod to use their existing MP3 player. Which in my opinion is within the fair use criteria. It is sad that we have been told something for so long that we now without any proof believe. What I mean is that it seem like the burden of proof has shifted from the accusers and now is just accepted by the accused. Just because I didn't by an iPod it shouldn't restrict how I use my media. As long as I am not mass distributing (once again burden of proof here seems to be null) or selling them for profit (again burden of proof) both of these things are wrong and breaking the law. Anything else falls under the fair use guidelines. But no one ever seems think about that when they sue. Anyway, I could go on and on and it would make no difference because we are all being brainwashed by the RIAA and the Media that supports it.
This is a nice update to the program I was already using.

 

[sethypoo]

No, sharing/copying CDs is illegal if it is not for your immediate personal use. It's a bit of myth that it's ok if you're not making a profit you can do what you want.

Yes, that's what I thought, I always use it for personal reasons.

 

[gemio17]

the difference is, you have finite number of friends on the order of hundreds at most, i assume. and physical CD can only be at one place at once.

online, there's no limit to how many "friends" you can reach, there's no lost time in transporting the file, you don't run the risk of losing the file and the file can be shared by many at once.

let's not kid ourselves, there are differences. and they can cause different problems.

I took limewire off my machines as soon as the whole lawsuit thing started- I am responsible and pay for most of my music- this software will allow me to do what I have already been doing, burning dvd's and cd's of my purchased music so my co-workers, friends and I can swap. I am not interested in bringing my music collection online to a massive audience or take the risk of being sued or worse fired-until a week ago I did all my music stuff at work.

It'll be nice to do this without having to take 18 trillion steps to get there (burn, retag, reorganize, seperate, convert, repost/reburn) I'm not doing the p2p thing except extremely locally. It's so annoying to have to waste all sorts of cds just so I can re-import them as mp3's and swap!! It seems like a viable option for those of us who want to swap locally.

I guess that was my original point, I agree that there is a difference, but if they want to swap online, so be it. For everything that is invented/written, there will always be people who exploit the negative aspects and use it irresponsibly. What can you do? (besides say that the software is bad because of what it has the potential of doing... ) This is gonna happen anyway regardless of the fact that this software is out there, if people know about the software there's a good chance they've already figured out how to convert protected files into unprotected files anyway-the looooong way...

 

[jxyama]

Wait wait wait, this isn't illegal! Lending CD's, or VHS tapes, audio tapes, or even DVD's to friends isn't illegal, and even if they copy them, it still isn't illegal.

Back in the days of audio tapes, people were swapping and sharing all over the place.

Sharing/copying CD's, to my knowledge, is legal, so long as it's not done for commercial gain.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but you can to share CD's!

here's how i understood it:

if you own a CD:
1) you may make a copy as a backup.
2) you may lend the original CD to friends.
3) you may NOT lend the backup CD to friends. (because backup CD is for your use only.)
4) you may rip the CD for your own use.
5) you may NOT share the ripped CD tracks with others. (because ripped tracks are for your use only.)
6) you may copy or rip the CD and then sell the original CD.

when you download songs from p2p, even if you own the CD yourself, you are technically in violation because you are knowingly copying tracks that were meant for personal use by the person who ripped the original CD.

your friend can rip the CD and you won't be in violation because lending is not a violation. your friend, however, is in violation because he doesn't have the right to copy a CD he didn't pay for...

 

[Veldek]

What a bunch of garbage!!! Remember what happened when everyone exploited the ip sharing of the iTunes library in 4.0? Why do some people have to ruin it for the rest of us.

Idiots.

Well, if you're missing it then you must have used it. Which means you're one of them, so why do you complain?

 

[gemio17]

I think he’s somehow right but what he forgets is, that giving his CDs to friends to rip them is illegal, too.

Veldek - you have any Kit-Kat bars??


GIVE ME A BREAK

 

[Veldek]

Yes, that's what I thought, I always use it for personal reasons.

Just wondering what personal reasons there are...

But it's strange how many people think buying a CD, ripping it and then selling it to someone else is legal. Of course you can sell your own property but after you sold it, you have to delete the ripped songs, of course, because you don't own them anymore.

 

[Veldek]

Veldek - you have any Kit-Kat bars??


GIVE ME A BREAK

Hmm, what do you want to say? That it is legal?

 

[jxyama]

Also, what if you want to use a player other than iTunes to play your music. Shouldn't you have a choice?

no, because it wasn't part of the term of service you supposedly agreed to when you used iTMS.

if you bought GTA3 for PS2, would you expect to be able to play GTA3 on Xbox for no additional charge? shouldn't you have a choice?

the other obvious question is, why would you want to use anything but iTunes anyway?

 

[jxyama]

Just wondering what personal reasons there are...

But it's strange how many people think buying a CD, ripping it and then selling it to someone else is legal. Of course you can sell your own property but after you sold it, you have to delete the ripped songs, of course, because you don't own them anymore.

i think you can sell the CDs and still keep the copy of it... not sure, though.

you paid for the right to listen to the music, CD just happens to be the medium. since you are allowed to make a copy for your own personal use, do you have to own the original medium to continue to exercise the right you paid for? (albeit it's not fully paid for when you sell the original CD...)

 

[Veldek]

i think you can sell the CDs and still keep the copy of it... not sure, though.

you paid for the right to listen to the music, CD just happens to be the medium. since you are allowed to make a copy for your own personal use, do you have to own the original medium to continue to exercise the right you paid for? (albeit it's not fully paid for when you sell the original CD...)

Let me ask you in return: if you buy the CD, rip it and then get it back to where you bought it, is it legal? I don't think so.

 

[gemio17]

Hmm, what do you want to say? That it is legal?

No, but that's such a strict draconian stance to take. You cannot give cd's to friends to rip. Fine, then they paid me 1 penny and I transferred ownership to them. Then I gave them a penny to buy the cd back. Would that make it legal enough for you guys?? That's all I'm saying.

While I'm at it, I'm gonna go rip tags off of unsold mattresses at Sleepy's mattress store...watchout world I'm breaking the law!!!!

 

[Veldek]

No, but that's such a strict draconian stance to take. You cannot give cd's to friends to rip. Fine, then they paid me 1 penny and I transferred ownership to them. Then I gave them a penny to buy the cd back. Would that make it legal enough for you guys?? That's all I'm saying.

While I'm at it, I'm gonna go rip tags off of unsold mattresses at Sleepy's mattress store...watchout world I'm breaking the law!!!!

Apart from the penny deal: look at my previous post. It's not legal. Only the one who paid for it last, is allowed to have a copy of it.

 

[sushi]

Wait wait wait, this isn't illegal! Lending CD's, or VHS tapes, audio tapes, or even DVD's to friends isn't illegal, and even if they copy them, it still isn't illegal.

That is incorrect!

Lending is okay. Copying is not!

Back in the days of audio tapes, people were swapping and sharing all over the place.

In those days, the recording industry was not as worried since a copy was not near as good as the original.

However, these days in the age of digital copies, this situation has changed. I can now make an exact duplicate (digitally) of a CD. Therefore the copy is the same as the original in sound quality.

If you will recall, a third or later generation copy of a VHS tape or audio cassette tape was generally of low quality (yes there are some exceptions for those with very high end <<expensive>> recording equipment) unlike today's digital copies.

So the situation has changed.

Sharing/copying CD's, to my knowledge, is legal, so long as it's not done for commercial gain.

I think that you are getting confussed between personal use and commercial use.

Commercial entities pay a royalty each time a song is played. Yes, today there are different systems with playlists, but the concept is basically the same. The more airtime, the more royalties must be paid.

Individual do not have to pay royalty fees. Individuals only pay for the original purchase of the CD.

Copying a CD, DVD, VHS tape for distribution to others is illegal, whether commercial or privately. Period.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but you can to share CD's!

See above.

Bottom line. There is a big diference between lending a friend your CD and making them a copy. One is legal and the other is not.

Sushi

 

[jxyama]

Let me ask you in return: if you buy the CD, rip it and then get it back to where you bought it, is it legal? I don't think so.

well, this is precisely why most stores won't accept returns on software, music or DVDs once they are open. they know people make copies.

i'm trying to see if i can find recent information on legality of copies, but it's pretty hard...

one thing i do remember is that copyright infringement is not cut and dry - the fact p2p involves more people is, in fact, an issue. because one of the reasons for copyright is to protect the creation from devaluation through distribution. there's a distinction between letting friends copy a CD and offering tracks to millions via p2p. it's pretty easy to see that the latter case has much greater impact on the market value of the copyrighted work than the former and that does make a difference.

 

[123]

6) you may copy or rip the CD and then sell the original CD.

Now that makes a lot of sense. You sell it to your friend for, say, 20 bucks, who then makes a copy and sells you the original for, say, 20 bucks.

 

[iMeowbot]

Now breaking any digital encryption (even for personal use) is in direct violation of the DMCA. That's where people are up in arms; it's over fair-use clauses already in law that are becoming invalidated because the DMCA in essence makes even fair-use illegal.

I already whined about this over on macslash, but that's not quote accurate. DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent access controls (designed to keep out people who didn't pay to use the content), but not copy controls (which deter people from making fair use of content they legitimately acquired). DMCA also makes it illegal to distribute products that can circumvent either type of control, but if you have the tool you have the tool.

The playfair program doesn't break the Fair Play encryption, you need a valid key to use it. That's quite different from DeCSS, which cracks keys.

The legality of using playfair then comes down to the purchaser of the content. If the resulting stream is used at home and not redistributed, that's copy control circumvention and okay. If that stream is distributed to other people, the act becomes access control circumvention and a DMCA violation.

 

[geniusj]

Well, it was only a matter of time. I wondered how long it would take the windows folks to figure out a way to decode the encryption. If you note everywhere on it says stuff about how you need Windows to do this.

The 3 - 5% of population that uses Apples aren't idiots either, but for some reason you don't see them figuring out how to crack iTunes MS DRM do you? Interesting.

Actually.. I have had a program like this that I made and finished about 1-2 weeks before the first version of playfair was released. However, there was no way I was going to release it as publicly as he is simply for the fear of being sued. I'm a bit more at ease now though. But, to my point, I am a mac user. It can be done.

Another thing to remember is that this program is very easy to make. The code that decrypts the file is already done, you just plug into it. It is the code in VideoLan Client. The person who wrote that code (same one who broke DVD CSS) I believe is largely a linux user. So I wouldn't give the windows crowd too much credit. The hard part is the part that was done by jlj, not the parts that the m4p2mp4 author did, I did, and the playfair crew did.

Oh, also.. Some applescript studio code that might make your lives easier (it's for a droplet). I'm sure someone will figure out how to put it to use.

-- m4p2m4a.applescript
-- m4p2m4a

on idle
	(* Add any idle time processing here. *)
end idle

on open names
	set thePath to the path of the main bundle
	repeat with currentName in names
		set filePath to the quoted form of the POSIX path of currentName
		set filePath to replace_chars(filePath, ".m4p", ".m4a")
		do shell script quoted form of thePath & "/Contents/Resources/playfair " & the quoted form of the POSIX path of currentName & " " & filePath
	end repeat
	quit
end open

on replace_chars(this_text, search_string, replacement_string)
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the search_string
	set the item_list to every text item of this_text
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the replacement_string
	set this_text to the item_list as string
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
	return this_text
end replace_chars

 

[Veldek]

well, this is precisely why most stores won't accept returns on software, music or DVDs once they are open. they know people make copies.

That's right and just supports my point.

 

[jxyama]

That's right and just supports my point.

true.

so the not so clear issue is whether you can sell the CD back and still retain the backup copy or ripped copy...

it has long been considered semi-legal because the copyright holder never tracked down the copiers to be punished or the sheer volumes involved were small. p2p definitely changed it because now copies were reachable to millions.

 

[gemio17]

Apart from the penny deal: look at my previous post. It's not legal. Only the one who paid for it last, is allowed to have a copy of it.

all this discussion of legality is annoying- who cares. BLAH BLAH BLAH. our country is overly puritanical as it is. just let me and my copied cds be. By the way anybody have an actual law that pertains to the situation that we're talking about here? I mean something that says I cannot copy a cd to my harddrive and then sell it. And if I do sell it I have to erase said songs from my harddrive- and my iPod? Do laws say iPod? specifically?

or are we just spewing around trash, assumptions and law school ideology??

 

[wordmunger]

Sushi, I think you've basically got this right. I just want to clarify a couple of things:

That is incorrect!

Lending is okay. Copying is not!

Copying for personal/backup use is okay.

In those days, the recording industry was not as worried since a copy was not near as good as the original.

However, these days in the age of digital copies, this situation has changed. I can now make an exact duplicate (digitally) of a CD. Therefore the copy is the same as the original in sound quality.

If you will recall, a third or later generation copy of a VHS tape or audio cassette tape was generally of low quality (yes there are some exceptions for those with very high end <<expensive>> recording equipment) unlike today's digital copies.

So the situation has changed.

No, the law with regards to when/how you can distribute copies has always been pretty much the same. A copy is a copy, digital or otherwise, and users still have pretty much the same rights with digital copying. The difference is the aggressiveness of the enforcement measures. Furthermore, the DMCA allows for even more aggressive enforcement including criminal penalties.

Copying a CD, DVD, VHS tape for distribution to others is illegal, whether commercial or privately. Period.

Unless you're a library, or a teacher, or a member of any number of different groups for which exceptions have been drafted. However, the DMCA *specifically* makes it illegal to circumvent copy protection even for personal use. Only educators (and maybe libraries) get an exception for that.

 

[gemio17]

That's right and just supports my point.

Ever been to a used cd store?? I sure have. All of my cd's are in perfect condition and I can sell them back to the store after using it once- or on ebay, half.com, amazon etc.