Hacker unlocks Apple music download protection
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-10-25 10:12
SAN FRANCISCO - A hacker who as a teen cracked the encryption on DVDs has
found a way to unlock the code that prevents iPod users from playing songs from
download music stores other than Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes, his company said
on Tuesday.
Jon Lech Johansen, a 22-year-old Norway native who lives in San Francisco,
cracked Apple's FairPlay copy-protection technology, said Monique Farantzos,
managing director at DoubleTwist, the company that plans to license the code to
businesses.
"What he did was basically reverse-engineer FairPlay," she said. "This allows
other companies to offer content for the iPod."
At the moment, Apple aims to keep music bought from its iTunes online music
store only available for Apple products, while songs bought from other online
stores typically do not work on iPods.
But Johansen's technology could help rivals sell competing products that play
music from iTunes and offer songs for download that work on iPods as they seek
to take a bite out of Apple's dominance of digital music.
ITunes commands an 88 percent share of legal song downloads in the United
States, while the iPod dominates digital music player sales with more than 60
percent of the market.
Cupertino, California-based Apple, whose profits have soared in recent years
on the strength of the iPod, declined to comment.
Johansen, known as DVD Jon, gained fame when at the age of 15 he wrote and
distributed a program that cracked the encryption codes on DVDs. This allowed
DVDs to be copied and played back on any device.
His latest feat could help companies such as Microsoft Corp., Nokia, Sony
Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., which have all announced plans over
the past few months for music download services combined with new devices to
challenge Apple.
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