iPod How to be 100% DRM-free! (?)

[Let's Sekuhara!]

iTunes Plus is a big step in the right direction. There is technically no DRM on the "plus" files you buy through the iTunes Store.

However I'm told that your email address / Apple ID is still logged when you make a purchase and somehow embedded in the files so Big Brother can track you if you mass distribute them.

While I plan to only keep the music for personal use, it does somewhat creep me out that my info is being embedded and tracked in that way.
This is why I never buy from the iTunes Store and instead import CDs I buy. But I would buy from the iTunes Store if there was a way to purge the files of such meta data.

So...if I re-encode the audio (either in the same AAC or in MP3) will I be able to liberate my music of its meta-footprint?

 

[carlgo]

iTunes Plus is a big step in the right direction. There is technically no DRM on the "plus" files you buy through the iTunes Store.

However I'm told that your email address / Apple ID is still logged when you make a purchase and somehow embedded in the files so Big Brother can track you if you mass distribute them.

While I plan to only keep the music for personal use, it does somewhat creep me out that my info is being embedded and tracked in that way.
This is why I never buy from the iTunes Store and instead import CDs I buy. But I would buy from the iTunes Store if there was a way to purge the files of such meta data.

So...if I re-encode the audio (either in the same AAC or in MP3) will I be able to liberate my music of its meta-footprint?

Don't be paranoid. Apple doesn't track this. They beam it up to UN black helicopters and they follow you around instead. I wrap heavy duty aluminum foil around all my electronic devices and so far nobody has followed me. Nothing that I know about...

 

[lostless]

You can reencode and it will rmove that info, BUT, you will lose the sound quality a tad. At 256Kb/s I doubt the loss will be noticed, but will still be there.

 

[Loge]

You can re-encode AAC without quality loss using (though not free) -

http://rogueamoeba.com/fission/

This will remove the metadata. Alternatively, if you are OK with command line tools you can use Atomic Parsley to set the metadata how you want

http://atomicparsley.sourceforge.net/

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

You can always burn the tracks to a CD (as an Audio CD of course) and re-import them.

 

[gnasher729]

iTunes Plus is a big step in the right direction. There is technically no DRM on the "plus" files you buy through the iTunes Store.

However I'm told that your email address / Apple ID is still logged when you make a purchase and somehow embedded in the files so Big Brother can track you if you mass distribute them.

There were rumours about this when the iTunes Plus store opened. Someone compared files downloaded an hour apart and found differences. At that time I investigated this a bit. The only thing that changes is a field that contains the "creation time" - which is correctly set to the time that the file was downloaded. There is no trace of any email address or Apple ID that I could find.

But think about it... What purpose would it serve for Apple to include information that lets them identify you? This kind of information cannot benefit Apple in any way.

 

[Xavier]

The 'Purchased' and 'Protected' labels on your iTunes tracks is how you determine which is DRM and which is DRM free. The Protected indicates that that song has DRM, where the Purchased label (and having your email on it) is more of just a record that you bought that song from the iTunes store.

I went DRM free when I switched from my PowerMac G4 to my Macbook Pro. It was a rough transition. I ended up puting all my Protected songs into a folder/playlist on my PowerMacs iTunes, and burned them all to a CD. I then imported my whole iTunes library from my PowerMac G4 to my MBP over my LAN. Since that transition, I have bought a few songs with DRM, but I try my best to only buy iTunes Plus.

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

I guess I do sound pretty paranoid in my post. It's not really so much about that as it is the peace of mind in knowing you can always transport your files without limitation.

For example, I'm thinking of buying a movie to watch tonight. I want to watch it on the studio's Cinema Display. But then it will be attached to the studio Mac and not my MacBook. I guess I get 5 machines I can keep stuff on, but I really don't need to keep it on the studio Mac, so I will have to de-authorize it here, and...the who process is a pain, especially as I make more purchases. This will be the start of my iTunes movie collection and I'd like to get a DRM solution in place before I start collecting. I just want something I can actually own and not have to keep track of where what has been activated and all that BS.

What is the solution for clearing the DRM from video?
Can QuickTime Pro do it?

 

[Stevez0r]

Just random question.

I use iTunes to organzie my music because the interface is the best around. I have family members come to me to put music on their iPods ever now and then. I've been using the Pepsi / Amazon promotion for DRM free music, which I've been getting from everyone. What I do is download the music file to my desktop then drag and drop in iTunes. Then I delete the file from my desktop and make edits to file in iTunes as need. This is so a newbie question but is there difference from the file from the desktop or the one in iTunes in terms of quality of sound? Basically do I lose quality of sound by the drag and drop method?

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

do I lose quality of sound by the drag and drop method?

No. iTunes does not re-encode when you do a drag & drop. If the file was an AIF, it will remain an AIF. If it was an MP3, it will remain an MP3, and the bit rate will remain the same. You can verify this by going to your View settings and marking the checkboxes for Kind, Bit Rate, and Sample Rate.