Sharing iTunes Possibly Legal, Definitely Possible
"DVD Jon" is back at it. Already a hero with the Pringles and Jolt Cola hacker community-- at age fifteen, no less -- for unscrambling the DVD Content Scrambling System, Jon Lech Johansen returns at age twenty-two with a way to get around the playback restrictions on Apple Computer's iPod and iTunes music products:
Today, songs purchased from Apple's online iTunes Music Store can't be played on portable devices made by other companies. Songs purchased from many other online music stores also won't work on iPods because they similarly use a form of copy-protection that Apple doesn't support.
Johansen said he has developed a way around those restrictions by creating code that mimics Apple's copy-protection system. But unlike his previous work, which he usually posts for free, the Norway native plans to capitalize on his efforts through his Redwood Shores, Calif.-based DoubleTwist Ventures, said the company's only other employee, managing director Monique Farantzos.
Robin Hood for the digital age, or just another PITA for Apple? I'm sure some court will decide by the time he's retired -- at age thirty.
