[f1000]

RealNetworks Says Files Can Play on IPod


By ALLISON LINN, AP Business Writer

SEATTLE - RealNetworks Inc. says it has created technology that allows songs purchased through its online music services to be played on Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod player, just a few months after complaining that Apple was rebuffing attempts to form an alliance.

In an interview Friday, RealNetworks chief executive Rob Glaser said he did not know how Apple would react to the new technology. Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., did not return numerous phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Glaser said the new system, called Harmony Technology, will let people securely transfer music bought using RealNetworks' music download services to an iPod or virtually any other portable music player.

Previously, music purchased through RealNetworks' music download services could most easily be played on devices that supported its copyright protection technology. By the same token, the easiest way to get digital music onto the iPod player was through Apple's iTunes Music Store, which uses its own system. The same held true for devices that supported Microsoft's Windows Media Player anti-piracy technology.

Microsoft said it could not immediately comment on the system.

Glaser said the new the system works by essentially translating the various anti-piracy technologies, to make the players' systems compatible with RealNetworks' system. RealNetworks said it was not concerned that the system would be illegal.

"We are making it so that consumers can buy music once and play it anywhere," Glaser said.

A test version of Harmony will be available Tuesday on Real's Web site.

In April, Apple chairman Steve Jobs (news - web sites) rebuffed Glaser's request for a meeting to discuss an alliance between the companies, prompting complaints from RealNetworks representatives about why Apple didn't want to make its popular system more open.

There is already a way to make songs from RealNetworks' online music services play on the iPod, but it is cumbersome. To do so, a user would have to burn the songs from a computer to a CD, download them back onto the computer in a different format and then put them on the player.

Phil Leigh, an analyst with Inside Digital Media in Tampa, Fla., said he was surprised to hear that Real had developed the technology, since Apple has been careful about guarding its popular — and proprietary — system.

He said the new system could be a potential boon for RealNetworks, because customers would be able to buy whatever player they want without worrying about whether it would work with Real's service. But he said it would only be a success if it was easy and reliable.

"The question is, 'How well does it work?'" he said.

___

Associated Press Technology Writer Matthew Fordahl contributed to this report.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...2&ncid=716

[wataru]

Oh goody. Now all the masochists can use Real's music store with the iPod.

I predict this will help them approximately... not at all.

[Eug Wanker]

c|net: RealNetworks breaks Apple's hold on iPod

RealNetworks is expected to announce Monday that it has unlocked some of Apple Computer's most tightly held technology secrets, giving its music a way onto the popular iPod digital music player.

The announcement is part of a broader release of RealNetworks software, which will let songs sold from the company's online store play on a variety of portable devices, including the iPod and Microsoft-compatible rivals. RealNetworks has been selling songs from its digital song store since January, but the files could previously be played only on a few portable devices.

The new Harmony software, which RealNetworks said mimics the proprietary copy protection used in Apple's iTunes store, is sure to be controversial. Apple has previously refused to provide licenses to companies seeking iPod compatibility, and RealNetworks did not seek permission before releasing its own version of iPod-friendly software.

[f1000]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
RealNetworks is expected to announce Monday that it has unlocked some of Apple Computer's most tightly held technology secrets, giving its music a way onto the popular iPod digital music player.

Wow, Real must be desperate.

[wataru]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
RealNetworks is expected to announce Monday that it has unlocked some of Apple Computer's most tightly held technology secrets, giving its music a way onto the popular iPod digital music player.

Riiiight, I'm sure it had nothing to do with hymn, the open source hack for defeating FairPlay

[GORDYmac]

Why would it have anything to do with Hymn? That software strips FairPlay DRM. Real doesn't use FairPlay. I'd imagine that all their software does is convert their files to a format that iTunes for Windows will accept, then, they will transfer to the iPod.

Funny thing is, they may have gotten inspiration from Apple's WMA convertor for iTunes for Windows. Apple solved half the problem for them.

Apple may squash it, but this only boosts the iPods appeal IMO. Now, folks that have used Real's service from the start may want to buy one of those coveted iPods since their files can now play on it.

In any event this is a good thing.

[dreilly1]

This is interesting. In order to do this, Real would essentially have to re-encrypt their songs in the FairPlay format, then load that onto the iPod in the same way that iTunes loads it. We have to assume they're using FairPlay DRM, since there's no indication that you need to load new firmware onto the iPod to do this.

(Unless they're de-crypting the files into clear MP3/AAC and expecting people to not be clever enough to manipulate the clear files on the iPod. But I doubt even Real's that stupid.

So, Real isn't really bypassing the FairPlay technology, which would be a violation of the DMCA. They're mimicing the FairPlay DRM so that the iPod can use it. If anything, they've reverse-engineered the iPod (or the PortalPlayer software), not the DRM itself. (and as the post above me pointed out, Apple already did half the job for them...)

In any case, Apple has said on more than one occasion that they make money selling iPods, not on the music store. I think this could do nothing but good things for Apple.

[wataru]

Originally posted by GORDYmac:
Why would it have anything to do with Hymn?

I don't think it's so hard to imagine that Real could have gotten a lot of their understanding of FairPlay from Hymn's source code. If you wanted to produce something that meets FairPlay specs but without looking at official documentation, don't you think you'd take a look at Hymn? It's the current best public information on FairPlay, and it must be pretty complete since it's able to remove it entirely.