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Apple to pay $308.5 million for allegedly violating a DRM patent
Apple has been ordered to pay $308.5 million in a lawsuit alleging that the copyright protection in the App Store and Music violates PMC's patents.
Yahoo stops daily fantasy sports contests in New York
Yahoo is following the lead of DraftKings and FanDuel and stopping its paid daily fantasy sports operations in New York. Reuters reports that this shutdown won't affect other states, however.
iOS malware uses copy protection to infect 'pure' devices
Ne'er-do-wells have so far exploited holes in Apple's FairPlay copy protection primarily to distribute pirated iOS apps, but it now looks like they're turning their energy toward hurting users. Palo Alto Networks says it has discovered AceDeceiver, the first malware that uses FairPlay to infect its targets. Install a bogus iOS management utility for Windows (Aisi Helper) and the software will launch a man-in-the middle attack that grabs app authorization codes and uses those to install infected apps on any iOS device you connect to the system. Unlike many iOS attacks, this doesn't require that the target use a jailbroken device -- the apps are allowed to run as if they were completely legitimate.
Apple worked to block '100 percent' of iTunes competitors from iPods
The federal antitrust case Apple's fighting isn't looking any more favorable for the hardware giant since we last reported on it. Former iTunes engineer Rod Schultz testified on Friday that he'd worked on a project to block "100 percent of non-iTunes clients" in addition to keeping any third-party software from interfering with iTunes, according to The Wall Street Journal. This, the plaintiffs claim, was part of an anti-competitive way to boost the prices of iPods from 2006 to 2009. Despite the plaintiff's best efforts, however, they weren't able to submit a 2012 academic paper (PDF) Schultz had written detailing Apple's blocking operating systems that didn't support iTunes (namely Linux) as evidence.
Apple aware of corrupt apps issue, working on a fix (Update: Fixed!)
Earlier this morning, reports started circulating that the App Store was pushing corrupt binaries to iOS and Mac users, resulting in constant crashes of the affected apps. Marco Arment, of Instapaper fame, was one of the first to notice and very vocal -- bringing the issue to the attention of many in the media and at Apple. The list of affected apps is pretty staggering, including such high profile titles as Angry Birds Space, Yahoo! Search, Google Reader and, of course, Instapaper. The number of developers affected now tops 115, so we'd hold off on those updates. For the first several hours Apple was mum on the issue, but it has finally acknowledged the problem in the support forums and even reached out to developers via email. Suspicions seem to be that the FairPlay DRM is at the root, but until we have official word from Apple we'll refrain from laying the blame at its feet. Cupertino is working (we assume tirelessly) on a fix, which will hopefully be delivered sooner, rather than later. Update: Apple has confirmed to AllThingsD that the problem was due to a "server that generated DRM code" and has been fixed. Affected end users are advised to delete the corrupted apps and redownload them.
iPod owners notified of RealNetworks-related lawsuit's class action status, given chance to cash in (updated: not Real)
Remember the 2005 lawsuit over Apple's effort to keep RealNetworks' Harmony DRM off of the iPod, calling the countermeasures an abuse that locked customers into Apple's FairPlay copy protection and the iTunes Store? You're forgiven if you don't -- the complaint was filed in 2005. Even with iTunes having gone primarily DRM-free over three years ago, though, owners of iPods bought between September 12th, 2006 and March 31st, 2009 are just now getting notices that they qualify for a slice of any damages if they register and Rhapsody's former owner the class action group wins in court. Of course, there's no guarantee that RealNetworks former Rhapsody users will win and get you music money to feed your iPod, iPod classic, iPod nano or iPod touch, but unless you're planning to sue Apple yourself, there's no penalty for a legitimate claim. Update: RealNetworks has chipped in to let us know that it's "not involved in any way" with the lawsuit, which is actually an independent complaint centered around the Rhapsody users themselves. RealNetworks hasn't embroiled itself in a legal fight with Apple to date.
Dear Aunt TUAW: The quick hit edition
Dear Aunt TUAW, How can I move books purchased at the Apple store from my library in my iPad to my drop box so I can share them with my friends? Your loving niece, Jacqueline Dear Jacqueline, You can't. Apple books use FairPlay DRM. Although this protection has been cracked by the Brahms Requiem app in recent days, those books are only for you to use, not for you to share with your friends. Hugs, Auntie T. Dear Aunt TUAW, How long after launch does it take for Apple to sell refurbished products, do you think?? Is it worth waiting for the refurb of the iPad 3 after it launches or will it take too long? Your loving nephew, Konstantinos Dear Konstantinos, It usually takes several months for the refurb channels to fill and units to start appearing on Apple's store. Auntie's guessing you should see refurbished next-gen iPads (whether or not they are called "iPad 3") for sale around September, in the run-up to this year's Christmas shopping season. Hugs, Auntie T. Dear Aunt TUAW, If the iPad 3 includes 4G, what is the possibility that us AT&T unlimited 3G data users will be grandfathered to unlimited 4G? Your loving nephew, Kevin D. Dear Kevin, Auntie's thinking "no freaking way" as her best guess. AT&T is grasping for ways to pay for buildout of that 4G network and Auntie doubts that grandfathering in iPhone holdouts will happen. Hugs, Auntie T. Dear Aunt TUAW, Do you have any idea when Mountain Lion may be released? I wouldn't mind buying a new iMac in a year -- do you think it might be out by then? Your loving nephew, Adam Dear Adam, Auntie's thinking around WWDC-ish time. Say June or July this year. As for next year, they'll probably be shipping the next generation OS X LOLcat on new iMacs by next summer. Hugs, Auntie T. Dear Aunt TUAW, Many of my friends and I spent the last few days looking through the capabilities of Messages Beta.... love what we see... and love what all you've posted about it. The thing i think i'm missing from your posts is how to sync all devices... We finally got it all working seamlessly... all devices under one AppleID seeing all conversations, past & present...just like it was supposed to be from the beginning...but it wasn't as easy as Apple made it look in their iOS 5 commercials. Maybe others are having the same problems we did and you guys could post some tips making it easy. I'm happy to share my experience if needed. Your loving nephew, Chad Dear Chad, Here's a handy guide. Hugs, Auntie T.
Apple to use Fairplay for iBooks DRM?
FairPlay, you'll remember, is the oft-maligned (yet still much-used) DRM that locks down content on the iTunes Store, and rumor has it that Apple's bringing that code to a whole new media. The LA Times tech blog says that sources in the publishing industry are hearing that Apple will lock down the sales of their content in the iBooks store with FairPlay as well. Of course, it probably would have been wishful thinking for Apple to sell content under an open license, but opponents of FairPlay might be unhappy to hear that it's coming back for iBooks. Of course, we still don't know what kind of implementation they'll use on the iBooks store, but remember that FairPlay limits iTunes content to five different accounts, so if you happen to have more than six people in your house, they may not all be able to have their own books on your iPad. FairPlay also limits content to strictly Apple devices, so (again, depending on implementation) it's a fair guess to say that any books you purchase on the iPad won't be usable on any other device. Which might be just fine for you anyway -- while FairPlay has its share of opponents, it's worked just fine for most users in iTunes. Apple is likely selling their platform to publishers right now, and in order to do that, they've got to guarantee that they can lock down content if necessary. [via Engadget]
Apple said to be using FairPlay DRM for iBookstore
Well, it looks like anyone hoping that books on Apple's iBookstore would be as DRM-free as music is on iTunes may be in for a bit of disappointment, as the Los Angeles Times is now reporting that Apple will be making its own FairPlay digital rights management available to any book publishers that wish to use it. Of course, that shouldn't come as a huge surprise considering that Apple still uses FairPlay for movies and TV shows sold on iTunes -- not to mention apps -- and it even still technically supports it for music as well, although it's pretty safe to assume Apple won't be going back down that road anytime soon. For its part, Apple is unsurprisingly staying mum on the matter, but March is fast approaching, so we should know for sure soon enough.
Quicktime 7.5.7 update cleans up HDCP Macbook issues, but only on SD vids
Releasing it's stranglehold on iTunes Fairplay DRM'ed content just a bit, Apple has issued a Quicktime 7.5.7 update, that allows standard definition videos to play on external displays without HDCP support. High definition content still toils under HDCP and DisplayPort content Protection (DPCP), leaving oldschool displays at least functional, but sadly low res. Any new MacBook / MacBook Pro owners out there making the non-HD supported Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA journey who can check in and let us know if it's working now? Grab the lastest version with your usual Software Update function or from the apple Support Download Website.
Apple iTunes content throwing HDCP flags on new MacBook / MacBook Pro
Man, you just can't win these days. So Apple offers up an energy-efficient, forward-thinking Mini DisplayPort on its latest MacBook / MacBook Pro, and now users that are still rocking displays sans HDCP-compliant HDMI / DVI ports are up fecal's creek without a paddle. Apparently select content in the iTunes Store is laced in HDCP, which isn't all that unexpected in and of itself; the problem comes in when you realize that the new unibody machines don't offer a VGA / VGA-to-component output, meaning that you have to connect it to an HDCP-compliant display if you want to see anything. We know, one word in particular keeps coming to mind to describe this fiasco: awesome.
iPhone apps pirated, shared -- but not GPL'd
Seeing as Apple's FairPlay DRM has already been cracked for music and movies, it's not at all surprising that people are starting to poke holes in the FairPlay-based iPhone App Store. The first loophole is pretty simple, since it doesn't appear that FairPlay links the iPhone hardware to specific Apple IDs: just log into iTunes from any of the machines authorized to use your account, and every app you've purchased will be available for free re-downloading to any attached phone. Since music and movies wrapped in FairPlay can be transferred to unlimited iPods and iPhones, we're guessing this little trick will work indefinitely, but we wouldn't depend on it.
El Tunes gives Linux users iTMS playback capabilities
It has been a solid tick since we've seen a good FairPlay hack, so it's with great pleasure that we pass along El Tunes for Ubuntu 8.04 users everywhere. Tested to work on Hardy Heron using RhythmBox (but assumed to work on any modern Linux Distro with GStreamer and a media player that utilizes GStreamer), said plug-in enables open-source aficionados to play songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store. As for limitations, the current version has no Pause / Seek support and cannot de-authorize a machine for playback, but a future version should hopefully cure those two quirks and add support for purchased video content and audio streaming to an AirTunes device. Give it a shot and let us know how it treats ya.
Multiple iPhone household? Share your apps.
Let me start this post off by pointing out that I am not a lawyer, and I don't even play one on TV. I have, however, been called for jury duty a few times, so I know my way around a courthouse.Melvin Rivera isn't a lawyer either, but he and his wife own two iPhones. Melvin knew that iPhone apps are wrapped with Apple's delicious flavor of DRM called 'FairPlay' that has some fairly open terms of use. You can authorize up to five computers to access items purchased from the iTunes store (that aren't iTunes Plus tracks, since they don't have any DRM on them) and you can then play those tracks (and one assumes applications) on any unlimited number of iPods and iPhones.Melvin, being the clever man that he is, realized that he shouldn't have to purchase two copies of Super Monkey Ball: one for his wife's iPhone and another for his. FairPlay makes it clear that those apps should be able to run on multiple iPhones, so after some poking around Melvin got it to work. Check out his blog for the blow by blow account.Clearly, this approach is kosher as far as the DRM is concerned, but do iPhone apps have licenses that supersede the FairPlay wrapper? I haven't agreed to any per app licensing agreements when installing something on my iPhone (as of yet) though that doesn't mean they don't exist (as I pointed out above I'm no Perry Mason).
Apple and the future of DRM
Over at the Guardian there's an interesting article on How Apple is Changing DRM. While there's not a lot that's new here, it does usefully cover what has happened over the last few years with Digital Rights Management and how DRM has basically come to bite the record companies in the, um, keister. Way back when the iTunes (Music) Store started, the record companies were clamoring for DRM to protect against Napster and other P2P sharing, and Apple obligingly complied with FairPlay. Over time, as the iPod became the portable device of choice, the record companies basically found themselves beholden to Apple, painted into a corner by that self-same DRM. Now they're giving up DRM on services like Amazon MP3 precisely to get access to the iPod without Apple. The question for the future of DRM is whether subscription models like Rhapsody will take off and whether a hitherto reluctant Apple might embrace the subscription model as a response to the rise of other DRM-free download stores. In any case the article is worth a read for anybody interested in the future of digital media.[via Digg]
TUAW Tip: Don't Torrent That Song...
Sure, you can now download music from the iTunes store without DRM but that doesn't mean you should just willy nilly start sharing that music with your friends. For one thing, it's illegal. For another, your account information is embedded into that m4a music file. Don't believe me? Try this yourself. 1. Launch Terminal. You'll need to be comfortable at the command line to perform this check. 2. Navigate to one of your iTunes plus downloads. If you have a US iTunes account, you can download the iTunes plus "Ooh La" single of the week. 3. Use the UNIX "strings" command to look at the text in your data and grep to search for your name. e.g. strings 01\ Ooh\ La.m4a | grep nameAlternatively, open all the strings in TextEdit:strings 01\ Ooh\ La.m4a | open -f. Bottom line: DRM-free doesn't mean that Apple suddenly supports piracy.
iTunes 7.2 Gallery
%Gallery-3526% If you're stuck at work and can't get away to take a peek at the new iTunes 7.2 update, we've put together this handy gallery of screen shots showing you the new 7.2 features. In iTunes 7.2, you'll find a new link to iTunes Plus in the iTunes Quick Links. Select it and iTunes will prompt you to update preferences (whether to use iTunes plus for your albums whenever possible) and your licensing agreement--that's another agreement on top of the one you had to agree to just to install the program. TUAW's 7.2 gallery is a work in progress. Expect updates throughout the day as the new features come on line.
iTunes Plus debuts DRM-free music
At TUAW we've been following the DRM-free EMI track deal for some time. We're delighted to announce that these tracks will finally available for sale over at the iTunes Store later today (Apple announced they are available, but not in my copy of iTunes at the moment). DRM-free tracks will cost you $1.29 each rather than the normal $0.99 per track you normally pay. The extra money buys you more audio quality than the standard DRM'ed tracks (256 kbps AAC versus 128 kbs AAC). Expect larger data downloads as your audio files expand to accommodate those extra bits. iTunes Plus requires iTunes 7.2.
HOWTO: Another way to find EMI songs on your computer
You might have read Dave's writeup of Mac OS X Hint's terminal tip for locating EMI songs using mdifind. I tried it out myself but I just couldn't get it to work. So I thought I'd give you a far easier way to accomplish the same thing. In Finder, select File -> Find (Command-F). Select "Other..." from the search attribute pop-up and when the "Select a search attribute" dialog opens, choose Copyright ("Copyright information about this item") from the list. Search for Copyright Contains EMI and let Spotlight do all the work for you.
Is a Microsoft/EMI deal on the horizon?
Now that Apple has penned a deal to open up EMI songs, will Microsoft be next? The Times Online writes that Microsoft has hinted that it may follow the Apple model and sell EMI songs at Zune Marketplace without DRM. No deals are signed or announced yet, but an EMI spokesman said that negotiations with non-Apple vendors are ongoing. As I've posted before, I think that the Apple/EMI deal is the first chink in the ship that will sink DRM use. Just like all those late and unlamented software copy protection schemes of the 1980's, DRM may soon be a historical footnote. Only time will tell, but I suspect that the iTunes DRM-free option will encourage a new wave of purchasers that have previously spurned the store due to DRM concerns.
