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Music DRM is About Trust and It Does Not Trust You
On Monday morning I opened up iTunes 5.0.1 to get my morning podcasts downloaded and sent to my iPod Mini when I was shocked to find a error message stating that my iTunes music library file was damaged. What?!
This is the card catalog file off all the music that you have in iTunes and it also is the permission slip that lets you play the audio tracks that you purchased from the iTunes Music Store. Now I was shocked to find out that you can not re-authorize permission from Apple and if your drive fails or if your iTunes Library file one day decides to shrivel up and die. Then you are up shit creek with out a paddle. Now when I upgraded to iTunes 5 it created a back up file and I was able to install thus unlocking all of the purchased music up to that point that I upgraded about two weeks ago. The bad news is that was three albums ago and I am out of about $ 30 worth of legally purchased music. I could not get my songs off my iPod since iTunes wiped it once it started a new music library when it automatically synced. So I just lost the rights to play three albums I paid for into the ether.
Now Apple and the RIAA already has my money for those tracks I just don't have the digital ability to play those anymore since the DRM system just sat up and died. I tell ya this is exactly the reason why OS level Trusted Computing" DRM systems scare the living crap out of me. The idea of a computer system that will not trust you to preform the actions that you want to do unless there is a key system on every damn file is just a house of cards that is going to fall when crap just like this happens. DRM works great until it does not work any more then you are screwed because the DRM venders have no real obligation to help you get your crap.
I am going to see if I can use the iTunes anti-DRM hacks like Hymn. I feel like reading Cory Doctorow Microsoft DRM speech and kicking my own ass for not backing that shit up then making a donation to the EFF for their work on DRM.
I guess I should have read the EFF guideThe Customer Is Always Wrong: A User's Guide to DRM in Online Music and Apple's tech doc of iTunes backups.
Why do I need to back up my music library?
Be sure to make regular backups of your music files (in your iTunes Music folder) by copying them to an external hard disk or other media. Otherwise, if your hard disk becomes damaged or you lose any of the music you've purchased, you'll have to buy any purchased music again to rebuild your library.
Come on Apple! I know you have a track record off all the music I paid for in my customer file. How about unlocking my Goddamn Dead Milkmen and Decemberists albums. I am backing up my entire iTunes music directory to my external USB hard drive but it will take me some time to trust the iTunes music store because it just told me that it does not trust me.
Jake at September 28, 2005 
Rants
Comments
ridiculous!
that's exactly why I go to the shop and buy my original copy of a CD.
DRM = the devil.
Posted by: Jim at September 28, 2005 3:56 AM
Ouch, I feel for you. I've got a few songs I purchased using a gift card from Napster sitting around only I've formatted and re-installed Windows since I purchased them. I have no idea if they'll still work or not. I burn my purchased iTunes songs on my iBook off to CD when I get them. Then I burn them again as an audio CD. That way I know I'll be able to get the song back no matter what.
Posted by: Scott at September 28, 2005 8:56 AM
I had a similar problem of a crashed drive, but 2 things saved me. One, I had a copy of the .aac original download from apple, and apple let me play it by authorizing my computer again (I did call apple and had them remove the auth from my old computer). And I had a copy of the cd burned to a cd. From the burn I could also just reimport it.
Posted by: Jeremy at September 28, 2005 11:11 AM
Jim, it's not rediculous and unfortunately that attitude is part of the problem. DRM is an attempt to hold onto the properties of the physical record-turned-CD (and license) in a digital world. DRM != devil. DRM ~ physical CD (an attempt anyway). If you buy an "original copy" of the CD at the store bring it home and your dog uses it as a chew toy before you've backed it up. You think, damn, I need to go back to the store and buy a new one ... and for some reason, you have no expectation other than you'll pay *again*.
Instead what we all should be demanding is for the right to return a dog chewed CD and get a brand new one for the cost to produce the physical CD (lets say $0.10). In other words, what we really want is a new "digitial" license for the rights to listen to the music, not a license to the "original copy" of the song, in a physical or digital format.
When we have that, iTunes will be able to recognize that you already bought a song and can credit you a new one if it gets lost. Until then, better backup those CDs and DRM songs.
Posted by: Phil at September 28, 2005 12:42 PM
Came over here from TUAW...
You're not 100% clear here ont he details so it's difficult to say which exact error you're running up against, but you can deauthorize and reauthorize music files, so if you dumped your itunes database and readded all the music you should be able to simply double click on one of the files and reauthorize (of course this takes up an extra one of your 5 authorizations, but it should allow you to do this). If all your authorizations are taken you can shoot apple an email and get them to reset your number of authorizations up to once per year, I think.
Now, since you've got a backup and that appears to be working, your new music isn't gone. Just find it on your hard drive in the iTunes music folder and drag it back into your library. Since your working library is already those tracks probably will just work. Otherwise you should be able to authorize them.
Also, if all else fails, complain to Apple... I've heard of them even letting people redownload music (which IMNSHO should be available at any time if a user so choses, since it's just a copy of digital data, duh!) when things are totally screwed up.
Posted by: jsnyder at September 28, 2005 2:23 PM
why even buy those MP3s?
I usually check out used CD shops, ebay, etc.
buy originals, then rip to lossless encoding
the CDs themselves are the best backups you can have
Posted by: ray at September 28, 2005 4:56 PM
If you cannot get those to work, www.mp3search.ru will have your CDs for about $1 (around 9 cents per track) so you can get your CDs back.
Posted by: John Gaskell at September 28, 2005 7:40 PM
I didn't loose access to all of my purchased music permanently just the music that I added since I upgraded iTunes. That was three albums worth of music.
I would like to see from Apple.
1. The ability to rebless and reauthorize tracks online when the system gets corrupted.
2. An automatic backup of the iTunes music library
3. Customer support so when the DRM system breaks the DRM vender will help the customer get what is owed to them. Access to the music that they paid for.
I would have no complaints from iTunes Music Store if there was a way for them to fix the broken DRM on the three albums that I lost access to.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at September 28, 2005 10:42 PM
I was able to reauthorize those tracks by re-adding them to the iTunes music library. Yay! I guess Apple DOES trust me. But I sure learned an important lesson about DRM and value backing that crap up
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at September 29, 2005 12:42 AM
This is precicely why i have my 6 gig music database backed up on DVD. I also burn an album to CD every time i buy it from the ITMS and re-rip it to my computer. That way i have the original files in a completely DRM-less form. It just doesn't work very well if you don't buy the whole album.
Posted by: Mark at September 29, 2005 3:46 AM
Try using this:
http://www.automatorworld.com/archives/backup-itunes-music-store-tracks/
I run it after every purchase to my server.
Posted by: Steve Miller at September 29, 2005 9:08 AM
