Is Real's 'hacking' of iPod legal?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

I am at a loss to understand now RN will handle changes that are bound 
to be made to the IPOD software and maybe the encoding format (headers 
etc) which could makes the music unplayable



Begin forwarded message:

From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Date: August 2, 2004 12:24:36 AM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Subject: Is Real's 'hacking' of iPod legal?

Is Real's 'hacking' of iPod legal?

By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Story last modified July 30, 2004, 10:50 AM PDT

Code-crackers risk fines and prison time when they defeat
copy-protection technology, but such draconian rules likely don't
apply in the case of RealNetworks and its iPod "hack," legal experts
said.

Efforts by both code-crackers and Real could undermine Apple
Computer's plans for its popular digital music player and its iTunes
Music Store, which together have put Apple so far ahead of the
competition that companies such as Real appear ready to do virtually
anything to catch up.

In a move Apple said reflected the "tactics and ethics of a hacker,"
RealNetworks this week essentially replicated Apple's proprietary
digital rights management software . Known as Fairplay, the software
prevents consumers from making unlimited copies of songs and ensures
that the iPod doesn't work with any other kinds of copy-protected
formats. As a result, songs purchased on Real's music download
service will now play on the iPod--something Apple contends may be
illegal.

But legal experts say there's a big difference between RealNetworks'
product and the work of code-crackers who have helped break through
DVD copy protection, or who have previously helped strip FairPlay
protection from iTunes songs .

Those underground programmers, at least in the United States, risk
running into the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which bars
"circumvention" of digital copy protection. By contrast, legal
experts note that RealNetworks is "hacking" Apple's technology in
order to protect music in its own way, not to pirate or otherwise
copy it without permission. This kind of reverse engineering for
compatibility purposes happens routinely in corporate America, and is
allowed as long as competitors aren't actually using copyrighted
code, attorneys say.

...

http://news.com.com/2100-1030-5290814.html


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