Boycotting iTunes Music Store

As posted from the HYMN project (A DRM stripping tool)

Well, I'm guessing Apple did not like the requiem project that was posted in Technical as the site host received a C&D letter demanding that all downloads be removed from the site. Until further notice, no links are to be posted anywhere on the site to programs that can strip DRM from any of Apple's music or videos. Any user who does so will get the link removed and a warning from us. Any further infraction will get you banned permanently. The site will remain open for now and we won't have a problem as long as we abide by the C&D.

However, on a more personal level this just pisses me off. In no way has this site ever promoted piracy. Those of you who've attempted to discuss such topics know that we take a very heavy handed approach. This was partly to protect us but also because we feel that artists should be compensated for their work. We truly believe that people should be able to free the music they've legally purchased from the shackles of DRM. So, we've attempted through the years to keep a balance of fair use.

Apparently with requiem the balance has been broken in Apple's eyes. This is really a shame...for them. Because I can no longer remove the DRM from songs I purchase legally from iTunes, I am boycotting the iTunes store and purchasing all my future music from vendors who no longer shackle their music with the chains of DRM. I suggest you do the same. We've complied with the C&D and removed all DRM breaking software from the site. But they can't force us to purchase DRM'd music from their store. I've been a long time fan of Apple and iTunes. But this latest move just plain pisses me off. So, I can no longer support them.

Join us as now all your iTunes music is now INDEFINITELY LOCKED in with Apple. This completely screws DJs, Music buffs, the public, and almost everyone in the world as you can now never use iTunes music on anything else again with their new DRM encoding, and C&D order.



Regards,
RRollergod

i've always hated itunes... everything apple/macintosh related is just a worthless product... plain and simple...

I think PC's that blue screen twice or three times a day are pretty worthless too.

^if you super fail at running a computer.

Pro-tip: Don't ever use iTunes. Or Rhapsody for that matter. Or Zune Marketplace.

^I think overpriced and under-performing products that are essientially impossible to customize are useless.

I'll take the blue screen over some stupid media player taking over my computer any day.

wow, thats just gay. itunes just f'ed up there. what a bunch of dooche holes.

[Coasterkidmwm]

The Apple knows what is best for us.

All hail the ejaculate colored product line!



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EDIT: I figured a worthlessly obvious thread that screams "OMFGZ I JUST FIGURED OUT APPLE HAS ME BY THE BALLS AND I PAID TRIPLE FOR IT!" would be a great place to upload my new avatar

Originally posted by epijlh

^I think overpriced and under-performing products that are essientially impossible to customize are useless.

I'll take the blue screen over some stupid media player taking over my computer any day.

Ok, so you'll complain about iTunes, but not what Sony did with their software? I think you may need to go back and read that statement pal.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by Woodie Man
Ok, so you'll complain about iTunes, but not what Sony did with their software? I think you may need to go back and read that statement pal.

He was not forced to use Sony products. If he did use them then you win but I'm just saying he didn't HAVE to use them.

This is the ad that I got when I opened this thread . . .

It's the record companies that make Zune Marketplace, iTunes, Windows Media Store have this DRM.

I'm not being pro Apple... It's the record companies. None of them would sign with any music store unless there was DRM. Or they would sue. They've already been trying to sue Apple for having their songs at 'only' $0.99.

Thank your record companies, not Microsoft, Apple or Sony, etc.

Copyright is great and sucks at the same time.

Funny how the whole world is turning into sheep

The fact that anyone actualy used itunes in the first place made me laugh. I have no shame in admitting I download my music for free, I just laugh at the assholes that think they have a conscious for the artists. It's just funny that no one can think of anything other than money. The artists who made the music started off with no money in the first place and made great songs, why all of a sudden do we need to start pumping money at them for writing more songs? Granted I will go out and buy a bands album if I think they actualy have talent and the CD is worth buying, but lets be honest in todays music industry the amount of talent is shrinking whilst the artists wallets are growing....Britney Spears

Don't insult Britney Spears... She'll call Dr. Phil on you.

Anyway, I've always wondered why people buy songs from iTunes when limewire is so much cheaper and easier. The only reason I use iTunes nowadays is to buy movies. iTunes is far to restrictive, and even I, an avid mac fan, is willing to admit that.

But on the topic, yeah, that was a big mistake on Apple's part.

BTW, Edge, your avatar was almost making me sick writing this. lol.

You could always just buy the CD or download the music from iTunes and then record it using stereo mix then just convert it back to MP3.

Or you can torrent or use Limewire.

[hyyyper]

Illegal downloads FTW

[jayman]

Originally posted by RRollergod

As posted from the HYMN project (A DRM stripping tool)

Well, I'm guessing Apple did not like the requiem project that was posted in Technical as the site host received a C&D letter demanding that all downloads be removed from the site. Until further notice, no links are to be posted anywhere on the site to programs that can strip DRM from any of Apple's music or videos. Any user who does so will get the link removed and a warning from us. Any further infraction will get you banned permanently. The site will remain open for now and we won't have a problem as long as we abide by the C&D.

However, on a more personal level this just pisses me off. In no way has this site ever promoted piracy. Those of you who've attempted to discuss such topics know that we take a very heavy handed approach. This was partly to protect us but also because we feel that artists should be compensated for their work. We truly believe that people should be able to free the music they've legally purchased from the shackles of DRM. So, we've attempted through the years to keep a balance of fair use.

Apparently with requiem the balance has been broken in Apple's eyes. This is really a shame...for them. Because I can no longer remove the DRM from songs I purchase legally from iTunes, I am boycotting the iTunes store and purchasing all my future music from vendors who no longer shackle their music with the chains of DRM. I suggest you do the same. We've complied with the C&D and removed all DRM breaking software from the site. But they can't force us to purchase DRM'd music from their store. I've been a long time fan of Apple and iTunes. But this latest move just plain pisses me off. So, I can no longer support them.

Join us as now all your iTunes music is now INDEFINITELY LOCKED in with Apple. This completely screws DJs, Music buffs, the public, and almost everyone in the world as you can now never use iTunes music on anything else again with their new DRM encoding, and C&D order.



Regards,
RRollergod

well duh.thats why i've NEVER installed itunes in ANY computer (of my own).. i said something like this about 5 years ago and noone listened they kept saying "NOOO you gotta get i tunes" ... and i said "nooo apple will find a way to screw you into having to buy their overpriced crap in order listen to music"
two words for any one screwed over by this haaaa haaaaaw!

If you want music and don't want to be screwed over for it, just get the records. But iTunes has worked fine for me for these two years, so I'll keep using it until I find a problem to get emo over.

Originally posted by Edge

Funny how the whole world is turning into sheep

The fact that anyone actualy used itunes in the first place made me laugh. I have no shame in admitting I download my music for free, I just laugh at the assholes that think they have a conscious for the artists. It's just funny that no one can think of anything other than money. The artists who made the music started off with no money in the first place and made great songs, why all of a sudden do we need to start pumping money at them for writing more songs? Granted I will go out and buy a bands album if I think they actualy have talent and the CD is worth buying, but lets be honest in todays music industry the amount of talent is shrinking whilst the artists wallets are growing....Britney Spears

Exactly. Anyone who ever bought a song for a dollar, shouldn't be allowed to listen to that incredibly bad pop music they bought. Music today sucks, no one knows how to play their instruments, and yet, we're forced to buy their songs if we want to for a buck, (which is cheaper if you like today's music, because they'll sell their disk for 16 bucks, but they only have 9 tracks on it, so its 9 if you buy it online).

Never bought music online, and apparently, never will. 3 or 4 years ago I got a couple songs for free, and downloaded them, sound quality sucked and I couldn't do crap with the file. I'll always stick to buying the CD if I like it, or, getting my music at an alternative place, for free.

Well I am glad I stripped my songs before the C&D was released I only have 4 songs that still have DRM on them, and I can not fix that.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by CalawayPark

It's the record companies that make Zune Marketplace, iTunes, Windows Media Store have this DRM.

I'm not being pro Apple... It's the record companies. None of them would sign with any music store unless there was DRM. Or they would sue. They've already been trying to sue Apple for having their songs at 'only' $0.99.

I recall buying music from a Russian website for 10-15 cents a song (depending on filesize) and NEVER having to fart around with that DRM crap. RIAA decided it had to control how Russia sold music and now Americans cannot buy from there anymore.

I went back to "acquiring" music and just looking it up on youtube. Youtube sucks for older songs. If you look up Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit or something like that you get a bunch of live stuff. I don't like hearing people screaming in the background.

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

Originally posted by CalawayPark

It's the record companies that make Zune Marketplace, iTunes, Windows Media Store have this DRM.

I'm not being pro Apple... It's the record companies. None of them would sign with any music store unless there was DRM. Or they would sue. They've already been trying to sue Apple for having their songs at 'only' $0.99.

I recall buying music from a Russian website for 10-15 cents a song (depending on filesize) and NEVER having to fart around with that DRM crap. RIAA decided it had to control how Russia sold music and now Americans cannot buy from there anymore.

I went back to "acquiring" music and just looking it up on youtube. Youtube sucks for older songs. If you look up Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit or something like that you get a bunch of live stuff. I don't like hearing people screaming in the background.

YouTube is how I get my music lol. I use my iPod for podcasts and music I rip off CDs. I usually just listen to music at my computer on YouTube and when I get my iPod Touch [God knows when that will happen] I'll just use YouTube whenever there's a wireless connection.

And mentioning Amazon or other very small music stores and how they don't have to fool with DRM is pointless [Not referring to you CKMWM] They're too small for the record companies to care. They obviously are going to push hardest on the biggest animal in the industry which *shock* is iTunes.

There's no point in boycotting it because you and the few people who visit that site are the only ones who will. Call everyone else in the world sheepish if you want but we're all fine with iTunes and could care less about DRM. And my music doesn't have DRM, considering I just put a CD into my drive and iTunes asks me if I want to import the music.

No more DRM! Yay...

I hate the record companies. Good thing in Canada it's almost legal to download music but I can't stand limewire so I just buy CDs or go on YouTube if I want to listen to music.

Originally posted by ragan



Exactly. Anyone who ever bought a song for a dollar, shouldn't be allowed to listen to that incredibly bad pop music they bought. Music today sucks, no one knows how to play their instruments, and yet, we're forced to buy their songs if we want to for a buck.

wat

slash there are definitely good bands out today. you just need to learn to not get your music news from television and you're life will improve ten fold.

A lot of people seem to overlook the iTunes player itself. It's a good application for just listen to music and has a few very practical features that you'd normally pay for (eg, simple, easy conversion between many different audio formats). And I can't stand the store like most of you, which is why I go to Preferences>Parental Controls>Disable Store.

In response to Calaway, I really hope people start looking elsewhere for music (eg Amazon, eMusic, or any other DRM-free store). If you can buy a CD for the same price (cheaper in some instances), then why the hell would you pay to download an album you can only download on 5 computers max? Seeing as how most people know dick about computers and would sooner accidentally reformat their hard drive than think to back everything up, I'd say that's a pretty good reason not to buy DRM-protected music. It's your property once you buy it, do whatever the hell you want with it (as long as you're not reproducing it on a mass scale or selling it), especially if you're transferring your music to a new computer or using it on a 3rd party MP3 player.

On another note, I agree with Calaway; unless you have a way of reaching the masses with your ideas (and even then you still have no guarantee that it will work), it is completely useless to boycott such an enormously influential business.

Originally posted by CalawayPark

I don't like hearing people screaming in the background.

Not to mention most cameras are horrible for a show, resulting in bad image and even worse audio.

Originally posted by hyyyper

Illegal downloads FTW

Wow, everything CAN be simple if you people want it to be... How about we BUY cd's at the store like NORMAL old days, then upload them to Itunes, which is a perfectly fine media player if you use it as a media player, not a store.

yes zooz, there are good bands out there today. Sadly, they don't get any play on the radio, the few that do, aren't on enough. The bands that are popular suck. They really do. They think playing the guitar like spit and screaming in the songs will make up for it. Foo Fighters is probably the only band I can think of that knows how to play, and that is popular, but isn't even all that popular. People would rather listen to boy bands with instruments, who don't know how to use 'em.