[buug] iTunes Music Store: m4p audio files?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Nick Jennings (nkj at iaminsane.com):

> So, I've had my new Powerbook G4 for a few months now and I love it. I
> just checked out the iTunes music store, it's pretty cool (if you habe a
> fast connection, that is). Bought the Strokes album, but I wanted to
> give a copy to a friend, so I uploaded the files to her. At that point I
> realized they were '.m4p' files. 
> 
> She uses Linux, and XMMS won't play em.
> 
> So what do I do?

Be aware that Apple has been slowly caving in to RIAA pressure, for one thing.
The "p" in "m4p" stands for "protected" [sic], and guess what _that_ means?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/30458.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/30466.html

In short, you didn't actually buy the Strokes album (if I correctly
understand from the above that you acquired its tracks from the iTunes
music store); you only thought you did.  You actually bought some very
limited and (effectively temporary) access rights to a digital
representation of it.

If, on the other hand, you bought a regular CDDA-encoded physical
Strokes album, then you have the usual technical options to make
legitimate use of your purchase such as copying the bitstreams to a
different storage medium you own and use.

Note:  Those legitimate uses would not seem to include "giving a copy to
a friend".  As loathsome as the RIAA is, I rather resent your providing
justification for their thuggery.  If you're going to keep seeking
assistance with that, please let me know, and I'll take measures to
ensure that I am not troubled by reading about your bootlegging efforts
in the future.

-- 
Cheers,                            Ceterum censeo, Caldera delenda est.
Rick Moen
rick at linuxmafia.com