Question about sharing purchased music

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
A bunch of us have been sharing our music across the Internet (my iTunes link is in my sig right now.) But I'm wondering about what's happening with my shared purchased music.



When I've been browsing someone else's iTunes library and one of those authorization dialogs has popped up, so far I've simply cancelled the dialog, skipped that song, and moved on. But what if I don't do that?



Am I getting a temporary permission to play that song, which ends when the song is over, or do I become one of the three people who's allowed to play that song indefinitely, until I explicitly deauthorize my computer for that song?



Conversely, might other people out there be using up my alloted user permissions, and I won't be able to get those user slots back unless the people who've played my music remember to deauthorize themselves later?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    A bunch of us have been sharing our music across the Internet (my iTunes link is in my sig right now.) But I'm wondering about what's happening with my shared purchased music.



    When I've been browsing someone else's iTunes library and one of those authorization dialogs has popped up, so far I've simply cancelled the dialog, skipped that song, and moved on. But what if I don't do that?



    Am I getting a temporary permission to play that song, which ends when the song is over, or do I become one of the three people who's allowed to play that song indefinitely, until I explicitly deauthorize my computer for that song?



    Conversely, might other people out there being using up my alloted user permissions, and I won't be able to get those user slots back unless the people who've played my music remember to deauthorize themselves later?




    You have to know the AppleID and password of the song's owner - you can't authorize by using your own AppleID.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JLL

    You have to know the AppleID and password of the song's owner - you can't authorize by using your own AppleID.



    Ah! So this means that only the music we rip ourselves, or get from other unprotected sources, is sharable with the public at large.



    This makes it more tempting (though I'm still cautious about sound quality issues, and not ready to expend the effort yet) to take a small hit on fidelity with an AAC->AIFF->AAC cycle, stripping the DRM off my purchased music in the process.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    Ah! So this means that only the music we rip ourselves, or get from other unprotected sources, is sharable with the public at large.



    This makes it more tempting (though I'm still cautious about sound quality issues, and not ready to expend the effort yet) to take a small hit on fidelity with an AAC->AIFF->AAC cycle, stripping the DRM off my purchased music in the process.




    Why do you want to waste the time stripping the DRM from music you bought just so others can have it for free?
  • Reply 4 of 4
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JLL

    Why do you want to waste the time stripping the DRM from music you bought just so others can have it for free?



    That alone wouldn't be enough to motivate me. But when I also think about the hassle of authorizing and deauthoring where my music can play when I buy a new computer (I'm a frequent upgrader), or what to do if a computer dies and I can't deauthorize it, being DRM-free has its appeal.



    Then again, stripping DRM is a hassle too, so there's a good chance I won't do it until a specific need arises. I'm backing up my purchases right now by burning standard CDs, not data CDs with .mp4 files -- the idea of a playable back-up is more appealing to me than a disc full of .mp4 files. However, if I ever have to restore from these back-up copies, I will be taking a small quality hit and stripping DRM at the same time.
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