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Buying DRM-Free Songs From the ITMS
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Mar 18, 2005 08:58 AM
from the enjoy-it-while-it-lasts dept.
from the enjoy-it-while-it-lasts dept.
mirko writes "Jon Johansen ("DVD Jon") has published a small program which allows the acquisition of DRM-free file from Apple's iTunes Music Store. He explains that his program works by bypassing iTunes which adds the DRM itself at the end of the transfer. His program, pymusique, is Windows-only compliant but it'd be easy to port it to other platforms."
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More Details (Score:5, Informative)
Links for the lazy:
Source Code: pymusique-0.3.tar.gz [nyud.net]
Debian Package: pymusique_0.3-1_i386.deb [nyud.net]
Windows: pymusique-setup.exe [nyud.net]
Re:Don't you guys realize... (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Don't you guys realize... (Score:5, Insightful)
How are they screwing the customer? Nobody is putting a gun to the customer's head to force you to buy this DRM music online. Go back to buying CDs then.
I'm just saying, everyone bitches that they embrace an "obsolete business model." So they test the waters with a new one, and people just crack it. Regardless of how you feel about DRM, it's not going to put online music in a good light at the labels.
Parent
Re:Don't you guys realize... (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Don't you guys realize... (Score:5, Insightful)
I can give away or sell my used CD's
I cant lend DRM'd music to someone.
I can lend a CD.
If the future of music is DRM, then these
activities will no longer be legal.
Parent
restrictive (Score:5, Insightful)
You are missing some important parts to their TOS. Under 9c:
"Apple reserves the right to modify the Usage Rules at any time."
And later under 13b:"...Apple and its licensors reserve the right to change, suspend, remove, or disable access to any Products, content, or other materials comprising a part of the Service at any time without notice. In no event will Apple be liable for the removal of or disabling of access to any such Products, content or materials under this Agreement. Apple may also impose limits on the use of or access to certain features or portions of the Service, in any case and without notice or liability."
No, I'm not using iTMS, but if I did, I'd be burning backup, DRM-free, MP3s. (Or Oggs for those of you who are cooler than me)
Parent
Re:Don't you guys realize... (Score:5, Interesting)
These DRM-cracking P2P-downloading "freedom fighters" are forgetting that they were the origins of this problem to begin with. It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet at the local restaurant. It charges $10 per person to eat, but you and 10 of your friends come in every day, pay for one plate, and use it to feed everyone. But not only do you expect the restaurant to continue to do business with you, you expect them to lower their restrictions because of your exploits!
But a new analogy has crept into my head (forgive its over-the-top comparison): those black individuals in the US South in the 1950s and '60s. They could have simply not done business with with the city bus system, or the lunch counters that didn't allow their presence. But by confronting the situation, and edging their way just into the place where they were not supposed to be, they ignited a sweep of change that completely altered the situation.
Now, I'm not arguing that the freedom to break copy protection on your music files is on the same moral level as the civil rights movement. I do, however, consider the continued violation of the DCMA in these ways a valid method for fighting it.
Every time a major crack is announced, the public sees yet another example of large corporations trying to control the behavior of their customers, which is something that people inherently don't appreciate. The goal here is to show the publishing houses and such that, unlike the buffet, they cannot continue to do business by simply locking people down even harder, or banning them from the premesis. They will have to innovate a new way of doing business that does not rely on the infringement of its customers' freedoms.
This is, of course, a pretty radical goal, and one which I'm not completely sure I support. But I have moved beyond the stage where I would boycott iTunes because of its DRM. Instead, perhaps cracking it to allow for legal fair use and then making Apple completely aware that your business depends on your ability to do so would be a better solution?
Parent
Re:Don't you guys realize... (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe because there's no feasible alternative at the moment? Maybe because he likes some artists who only distribute on iTMS? Maybe because he wants to play the AAC files he legally obtained on his Linux workstation?
Do you think that Apple's restrictions are really that ridiculous?
Who owns your computer? You or Apple? What right do they or anyone else have to tell you what you're allowed to do with your own personal property? I'm not talking about P2P or anything outside of your own computer. I'm talking about what you do with your personal physical property in the privacy of your home.
2) In addition, you're liable to hurt us people who don't mind the DRM, and in fact appreciate Apple's service, because cracking the encryption will more likely than not cause the RIAA to demand greater restrictions in the future.
DRM doesn't work and there is no way that it even theoretically can work. By necessity, DRM is the equivalent of placing your key under the doormat and expecting that nobody will use it without asking first. So what if the RIAA demands "stronger" DRM schemes than what Apple has implemented. It will only drive away customers. People like you will wake up and begin to care, perhaps. Which is really fine, because we don't need the RIAA anymore anyhow. Ever consider the fact that many iTMS artists are not RIAA member signed?
And incidentally, this does not appear to be a case of any encryption being cracked. In fact, it may not even be considered illegal, even under the bogus DMCA, because the data is merely being intercepted *before* DRM is applied to it. And it's not some form of wiretap because it's your own computer. But IANAL so don't base anything upon that speculation.
You play it off as if fighting DRM is some great act of civil disobiedence which will liberate us all from some fantasy corporate-controlled nightmare world.
If corporations are trying to define what you can legally do with your own personal property, then yes, there is reason to be concerned. And it is not a fantasy that abusive corporate control of the music industry has been detrimental to everyone minus the big-wig execs and a handful of top artists who managed to wrangle the system.
You have to realize that you're in a small minority, and you have to respect the rights of others who don't hold the same views.
Minority? Hardly. Maybe minority among Apple fanboys, but not among the majority of the population. Do you realize why MP3 is so popular? It's not because it's technically the best. It's because it is completely open. The free market has decided that most people don't like DRM. BTW, what "rights" is the original poster disrespecting of people who don't agree with him?
Parent
Re:Don't you guys realize... (Score:5, Informative)
This caused some pause in the Music Industry, but caused an even bigger ruckus in the Educational Market, since many a university bandwidth was being ate up by music streaming. Tons of Universities complained, I know most of the CSC at my campus block it if they have that level of control.
Apple then placed limits on it, very similar to the multi-user limits embedded in FileMaker (also owned by Apple), 5 simultaneous users. Then months ago, that limit was switched to 5 daily users.
Now I see no benefit in 5 daily users, unless they are trying to guarantee personal use vs office level radio station. I still believe 5 simultaneous users was more fair. But in all honesty, automated music streaming was a feature Apple added, not a right of your music.
You can still share and stream your music without the limits if you set up your own music server. Obviously more effort than clicking a checkbox in an application, but the same effort that was required before Apple put the checkbox in the iTunes preferences.
The limit applies to all music that you would use iTunes for, including non-DRM music. But has absolutely nothing to do with DRM, as opposed to application functionality.
Parent
Wouldn't it be ironic (Score:5, Insightful)
[1] Until iTunes closes this loophole
Re:Wouldn't it be ironic (Score:5, Informative)
You could do what you wanted before, with Hymn.
Parent
Re:Wouldn't it be ironic (Score:5, Interesting)
PyMusique captures the paid for track before the DRM gets put on.
Hymn strips off the DRM after the track is downloaded.
Hymn appears to violate the DMCA to the letter of the law because the DRM is in place at the time Hymn performs it's functions.
PyMistique most likely only violates the TOS because the user isn't using the iTunes application, the client component that puts the DRM on the downloaded file. The file is simply downloaded as iTunes sends it (without DRM).
Either way, the user would have paid for the song. They are simply making a choice to maintain their "fair use" rights.
Parent
Re:Wouldn't it be ironic (Score:5, Interesting)
Hymn appears to violate the DMCA to the letter of the law because the DRM is in place at the time Hymn performs it's functions.
I don't think this is actually true. Hymn does not break any encryption, it merely uses your legally obtained encryption keys to remove the DRM. This is a very fine point, but based upon my reading of portions of the DMCA, Hymn seems to be in the clear if you can explain it properly to a jury.
Parent
Re:Wouldn't it be ironic (Score:5, Insightful)
I've read those Terms of Service, and unless I am mistaken the only consequence is that Apple may, if they choose to do so, decline the sale or cancel your service. Period. If I missed something then I welcome anyone to jump in and cite the text I overlooked or missunderstood.
If I sign a contract saying that I will have your house painted by the end of the week or I owe you $1000 in damages. well... I'm perfectly free to choose not to paint your house if I have no objection to the alternative of paying you $1000. Maybe I just won the lottery and I want to fly to Hawaii this weekend. Ok, here's your $1000 in damages goodbye and have a nice life. All perfectly legal.
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Parent
That's precisely what I'll be doing this evening. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm hoping that when they dissect the log files from iTunes over the next few days they'll see an awful lot of non-iTunes client downloads. Whilst Apple can't condone this, it would be nice if they could go to the record labels and say without DRM we sold x many hundre thousand more tracks.
An other interesting point is this. The argument for DRM is that without it we'll all start copying music amongst ourselves. Surely if this was a case, with Apple leaking de-DRM'd music into the world, P2P and other piracy should immediately ramp up now (and I suspect it won't).
Parent
Re:That's precisely what I'll be doing this evenin (Score:5, Insightful)
If you believe that argument is valid, then you should have no trouble with the much more likely corollary:
Apple goes to the the labels and says "The site sold X songs without DRM. This represents less than
- Tony
Parent
Re:Napster is far better, and free (Score:5, Insightful)
No. Post your name, address and phone number. THEN you will be openly admitting to being a thief.
Parent
Re:Napster is far better, and free (Score:5, Funny)
Stemmo
Parent
Re:It's a freedom you wouldn't notice much (Score:5, Insightful)
Or what happens when your Mac breaks? I can still listen to the Queensryche CDs I bought in junior high (if I wanted to). At the time I had a brand-new Sony DiscMan that took four double-A batteries, lasted a couple hours, had awful sound, and cost about $130 new. My family's computer was a CompuAdd 286.
What happens when Apple goes out of business? Sony is still is business, but CompuAdd went belly-up ages ago. Apple's market share has been shrinking since the mid-1980s (and I say that as someone typing this on a PowerBook).
Assuming you don't have a BMW /w iPod adapter, can you listen to your CDs in your car without burning them in uncompressed, WAV format? What happens when you decide you want to move to Linux? Or what if you decide you'd rather have an MP3 player with a built-in radio?
These days, you can't even stream unencrypted songs to other computers in your household with iTunes. How do you know that Apple won't take away more rights in the future?
What if the artist decides he doesn't want his album distributed (e.g. Beach Boys' original Smile, Prince's Black Album), but you want other people to hear it?
Parent
Re:It's a freedom you wouldn't notice much (Score:5, Insightful)
As for what happens when Apple goes out of business, well, DRM authorizations are localized, and there are already programs to move your authorization manualy. Presumably, if Apple were to go out of business, they would either open the DRM, issue a universal authorizer program, or someone else would step in.
As for listening to them in your car, sure, you can throw them on to AAC players (like the iPod) and pipe them through AUX inputs or FM transmitters or any of the other methods that people have used to add audio devices to their cars for years.
What happens when you want to move to linux? You use iTunes via WINE or you reencode the music into another format. Yes, you may have to do work to move from system to another, just like I have to do work to get my CDs to MiniDisc or my VHS to DVD.
If you'd rather have an MP3 player, then you need to make them MP3s, what if all of my music is MP3s and I'd rather have an UberCompressedHighQualityFormat player? I have to reencode the music.
As for streaming music, here's a novel idea. If you don't want to use the iTunes encryption, don't use iTunes. I must have missed the point where iTunes was an essential element for streaming music.
If the artist doesn't want his album distributed, what prevents you from playing it for your friends? That's right, nothing.
Parent
Re:It's a freedom you wouldn't notice much (Score:5, Insightful)
this is just bitching about DRM for the sake of bitching.
no control whatsoever is not going to happen - Apple should be praised for its reasonable mesaures and all effort should be focused on defeating, for example, the retards who make PC games that won't run on PCs with legal CD copying software and/or hardware.
Parent
Re:It's a freedom you wouldn't notice much (Score:5, Informative)
First was the restriction of streaming libraries to local subnets.
Second was reducing the number of CDs burned from a playlist from 10 to 7.
Third was changing from 5 concurrent listeners to 5 different listeners per day.
Fourth was the recent reports that iPhoto albums, iMovie movies and Keynote presentations that use iTMS songs refuse to play on other systems.
The only loosening of restrictions was changing the number of authorized computers to listen to a DRM'd file from three to five.
Parent
Re:It's a freedom you wouldn't notice much (Score:5, Interesting)
Wrong, what Apple should be praised for is their desire and attempt to sell NON-DRM MUSIC. If you actually check the facts and the history you'll see that Apple wanted, and still wants, to sell non-crippled music. That they battled against the RIAA on this.
What Apple is "guilty" of is caving to the abusive practictices of the RIAA cartel. And you can't really place a heck of a lot of blame on someone who declines to get into an ugly and expensive legal battle. What Apple should have done is sued the RIAA for abusing their copyrights in an attempt to control formats. In fact at the time the RIAA was already on extremely dangerous antitrust ground as they had in effect imposed a Windows only market. The RIAA was accutely aware of just how closely the member companies were skirting antitrust law in conspiring to impose uniform and oppressive terms to control the only market. One of the rather comical aspects of this is that during the negotiation process their lawyers set a rule that no two studio heads were allowed to be in the same room at the same time because any direct agreement between them would have resulted in INSTANT ANTITRUST CONVICTION. No ifs ands or buts about it, their lawyers said they'd be nailed to the wall for what they were doing if there was ever any evidence that the studio heads directly agreed to what they were doing. The RIAA were despesperate to get Apple on board to ward off antitrust prosecution. That is the reason they made an exception to the uniform and oppressive terms they conspired to imposing on the online market. Apple was fighting against any DRM at all, and they were going to just walk out. The RIAA needed Apple and they didn't take the small Apple market seriously, so they offered Apple slightly less oppressive terms than anyone else. Which is exactly why Apple's iTunes has absolutely STOMPED every single other online music service. In a free market a noncrippled product (or merely less crippled product) simply exterminates any attempt by anyone else to sell crippled crap.
Apple does not want to use DRM at all and they have absolutely no objection to removing or defeating it other than the fact that headaches and battles they get for it from the RIAA.
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Parent
DVDjon is my hero (Score:5, Funny)
I have an idea... (Score:5, Funny)
I love ITS but ... (Score:4, Informative)
I'm using the songs legally, but to do what I want I have to burn the 99-cent songs to an audio-CD, then rip them back into iTunes as mp3s, *then* copy the mp3s to the CD.
Sam
Another little article (Score:5, Informative)
Hymn? (Score:5, Informative)
Contrast with GPL violator story (Score:5, Insightful)
but
Buying songs from iTunes without complying with the ToS is big and clever because music must be free?
How useful to people who choose to use iTunes? (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been an iTMS user since its inception and I've yet to feel encumbered or feel a lack of freedom. I read the agreement and understand the restrictions. I agreed. Simply put to those who use this sort of software, why do you purchase from iTMS? You know, or should!!, the restrictions imposed.
I don't (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't purchase from iTMS. However, I would strongly consider it if it would let me listen the music I bought on my own equipment without file format conversion hassles.
Parent
Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
Whether you like it or not, DRM is the cornerstone of iTunes acceptance among the music industry. Without DRM, there is no way iTunes would even exist.
The first rule of security is that the client is untrustworthy. For Apple to put all of the security of their DRM scheme on the client side is astoundingly dumb. I expected much better of them.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
Really, it's not that Apple's stupid. It's more likely that they never intended to make an utterly unbreakable system. As you mentioned yourself, the only reason Apple really cares about the DRM is that the music industry happy. In pretty much all of this copy protection for software/entertainment, there are three groups:
...and this situation is no different. The distributor isn't going to get their unbreakable encryption. What the RIAA should really want the DRM to do is:
Parent
Cache and bandwidth considerations (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't researched Apple's solution; however, I have personal experience of implementing a Windows Media-based DRM solution in my previous job. (I don't agree with DRM, and won't purchase any DRM-protected media, but it was nonetheless an interesting assignment, and I discovered a lot about how it works.) With that in mind, here is my tentative analysis.
Apple are probably using one of the edge-cache services like Akamai to reduce server load and bandwidth fees. In order for this to work, the data that each client downloads must be the same - otherwise, it can't be cached.
Although it is possible, and even desirable from a security standpoint, to apply the DRM to each file as it is downloaded, the increased server load and bandwidth probably makes this economically and logistically unviable.
It may be judged as stupid that Apple has not applied even basic, generic encryption to what they send over the wire. However, since they would have to supply the enemy (a.k.a. the customer) with the encrypted content and the means to decrypt it, it would not deter a determined hacker. Then again, nor can DRM.
The parent writes, "The first rule of security is that the client is untrustworthy." The first rule of DRM is, by contrast, "We give the client the encrypted content, the keys, and the decoder, and hope that he won't work out how to use them."
The lesson that you should take away from this is that DRM is snake oil. It can never work. But it is being sold to and bought in gallons by the entertainment oligopoly mastodons who have repeatedly proven that they don't get the internet. It's basically useless for all parties concerned. We get inconvenient restrictions; they think that they are getting copy protection but are actually being sold a river.
As an aside, even if Palladium/NGSCB becomes prevalent and required for downloading DRM content, it seems unlikely that each resource will be custom-encrypted against the customer's Palladium/NGSCB public key. And even if it were, there would be likely be ways to extract the raw data at some point. I doubt that we will see truly uncrackable DRM for a long time to come. In fact, I doubt that we will ever see it.
Parent
if you don't like the license agreement (Score:5, Insightful)
by the way, let say i do not like the GPL license. should i:
1. not use GPL software
or
2. use, and violate it because i do not like it.
a lot people find the GPL license "viral" and disagree with it. but we still expect people to respect it and follow it.
Unlike Hymn... (Score:5, Insightful)
Not legality, but implications (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not entirely convinced that legality is the issue (home-taping/burning and modification by the purchased user, if AFAIK "fair-use"). It is more the fear (and in some respects rightly so) of the RIAA and Apple of the said purchased media being deseminated.
Pure and simple, distributing copyrighted material (whether you burn CDs using iTMS tunes or you break the DRM) is illegal. However, what you do with your purchased music in private (e.g. for yourself, on your own computer) is your business, so long as you are not deseminating it to those who didn't buy it, or you are not using the said copyrighted material for public performance. Electronic media, in terms of copyright, does not disallow personal backups, remixing for fun (no profit), or any sort of arbitrary modification. You own that file, albeit, not the media therein (the music in this case).
In the cases of fair-use, home-taping has been defended (likewise photocopying library books for personal/academic/private use). There are certain rights that extend to the public over what they own.
In the case of DVD Jon and others, what they see that they are doing (and arguably they are) is cleverly extending the capabilities of the end-user in lines of usage. When exploited for desemination, profit, and piracy, it is not the process or tool that is wrong, but the use. The tool does have legitamate, legal uses (playing purchased media on your Linux box, for example).
I personally think PyMusique [nanocrew.net], Hymn [hymn-project.org], and the FairPlay mechanisms for VLC [boingboing.net] are legitimate and can (and should) be used for Fair Use. If exploited, like any other tool, for illegal ends, then the people infringing on copyrights should be prosicuted (albeit the RIAA has been in recent years more proactive is fining grandma and various 12-year olds that busting pirating rings).
I have been using Hymn for months now, for fair-use purposes. I buy from iTMS (when you ride the Boston T every morning and evening, your iPod is your best friend) and I frequently get gift cards from family. I and my fiance think it is great, however, if she buys something and I buy something and we want to make a mix CD for our car when we go on a trip, something that allows extended fair-use would be great.
I personally, and I don't think I am alone, think what DVD Jon is doing is great because it is useful to the consumer (although as a side effect, the pirate). The consumer can better enjoy the beniefits of the purchase.
This will probably be corrected by iTMS with a subsequent version of iTunes and I have no problem with that. Apple is there to make money from their sales (so preventing piracy is a good motive) and they have to protect the fidgety record labels who are still uncomfortable with digital media, although CDs themselves are not secure in any regard. Those (like DVD Jon and myself) who see a need as a consumer to modify their legitamately purchased music to use it on all computers/OS they have, should make an effort to archive their media in forms they can use, with the technology at their disposal, and if the DRM system is changed, keep up or enjoy what they already bought.
Somebody mentioned subscription services, and I don't think that subscription services are only legally de-DRMed if you currently subscribe to the service, e.g. it is blantantly illegal to rip and crack a storehouse of music and continue to use them once you no longer subscribe. However, with these models, fair-use would apply to burning CDs for your car, ripping tracks and making MP3s for your iPod or whatever. It is when the use is exploited and people are not being pais is when you have a problem.
This is actually disappointing (Score:5, Insightful)
iTunes was one of the first times I have seen what I consider a fair and reasonable DRM. The industry and Apple get their cut. I don't have to buy a full CD if it is one good track with 12 shitty ones. And I can play it in my car, at home on stereo, or on my iPod.
This is only going to make the naysayers in the business world want to clamp down even more.
DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
So, the industry freaked out and now we have DRMs on everything.
I'd like to remind you that when you sign up to use iTunes, you agree not to do anything to interfere with the DRM, but of course, those agreements don't really mean anything, do they?
Convoluted process:
1. Burn music to CD.
2. Rip music back.
It is cool, however (Score:5, Interesting)
Did you read the article? Or even its title? This is about BUYING drm files from iTMS, not downloading them for free. It is quite cool, as the DRM makes it a big hassle for purchasers to listen to the music on their own equipment.
RIAA music isn't free
How is this relevant? It is not free if you are buying it by the cassette, the CD, or by iTMS with AND without this DRM-remover.
Parent
Re:It is cool, however (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Why is this news or stuff that matters? (Score:4, Insightful)
at which point the drm is added to stop you doing other things with it.
Parent
Re:Why is this news or stuff that matters? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Bwaling's Law (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:3..2..1 (Score:4, Insightful)
Can you imagine the huge amount of processing that would be required to apply DRM server-side instead, which I should imagine is the only way to prevent the use of this method?
Parent
Re:3..2..1 (Score:5, Interesting)
There are ways they could reduce the server load and make it a bit more secure though - eg. blanket encrypt/drm everything on the server and have the client rip that off and apply the personalised drm. Then you'd have to go fishing around in the client for keys etc.
They could also add some form of security handshake to the client & the protocol to identify it as a valid apple client.
By far the biggest problem they have is how to fix this without breaking their massive installed client-base. That is where I think things get interesting.
Parent
Because... (Score:5, Insightful)
There's also nearly no way to prevent "hacks" like WireTap that just grab the audio stream without completely munging up the way an OS handles the audio stream. They can only do so much and Apple is not stupid enough to know that. They are the best buffer we have right now between the (wanting-to-try-to-be-legal) consumer and the greedy idiots controlling music distribution.
Maybe I'm optimistic, but I feel like something like what Apple is doing now had to happen to break open the digital purchansing flow. There's no turning back now. If "good" DRM gets more and more expensive to develop, implement, manage, and enforce, it might just become a poor(er) business model. Someone will hopefully push the "innovation" and get us beyond this hacked system we have now.
Parent
Re:DRM broken anyway (Score:5, Insightful)
That's probably true. Most people who listen to high-SPL, boosted bass through headphones have significant hearing loss.
I don't like bass. I don't like treble. I like music. I like accuracy. Boosting the bass to unnatural levels is like coloring an Ansel Adams photo.
Parent
Re:Advice (Score:5, Insightful)
This is DVD Jon [cnn.com] we're talking about. He has a lawyer. He already hacked DVD's, got arrested, charged, sued, and won.
For the unfamiliar: His DVD hacking software (DeCSS [wikipedia.org]) was deemed illegal because it allowed you to bypass the protection put onto DVD's (so that you could store the digital content onto a hard drive or make a backup copy). He ultimately won that case. This was HUGE for the rights of YOU AND ME, akin to the original case [museum.tv] that allowed us to use VCR's to record TV shows!
Parent
Asterix... didn't you read? (Score:4, Funny)
Did you read the "Asterix in Civil Court" graphic novel? It's the one where the bard Cacaphonix is replaced with a guy named "DRMfix" who carries around a boombox playing "stolen" Kazaa and iTMS music files.
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