FairUse4WM strips DRM - really works!
 

For those that haven't been reading on the internet, there is a program called FairUse4WM that strips off DRM.

Here is one article on it: http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/25/f...ows-media-drm/

I downloaded a copy, and ran it against MovieLink movie that I purchased for $9.99 (title: The Secretary), and it STRIPPED OFF THE DRM.

I then went over to Yahoo Music that uses DRM for their subscription service and tried the free 7 day trial and downloaded music, ran it through FairUse4WM, and it STRIPPED OFF THE DRM.

Stripping off DRM hacks have been around for a while, but this one is particularly disturbing for the fact it is so easy to use. No longer the need to run command line utilities to do the stripping, simple drag and drop and its copyable.

It will take a while for MS to patch this one, and even if they do, won't matter, since most won't have the time to re-encode to the new DRM, and even then the hack will just come out shortly.

Many paysites were removing DRM because of consumer demand, while others were still holding on to DRM as a way of "protecting" files.

It seems now the genie is clearly out of the bottle on this one, rather than limited to the hacker community.




Fight the copywrongs!

any download link? :pimp

let me put it this way. microsoft will launch hundreds of lawsuits very quickly. a friend of mine spoke to microsoft on friday and its being worked on (the fix). reverse engineering of any microsoft product is a violation of microsoft tos and t&c's. whatever forum hosts a link or actual download to this app will be sued. any p2p network that has it available will be sued. in all honesty, if i were you, i would ask the mods to remove the link in your post. if you think i am joking, just wait and see. my friend is a large microsoft drm partner. he was told that everyone will be sued. think about the egg on the face of microsoft over this and tread lightly...

also, understand that the lawsuits by microsoft will be in the billions. i had a friend sued by microsoft for mailing and they were relentless until they got what they wanted.... be careful on this one....

his link is to engadget...I think he'll be okay :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

the engadget link covers the story,, it has no links to the actual program.

The website is a tech news story site and they probably are full well aware of the implications of linking to the program, much like those that were linking to the deCSS code.

This is will obviously will be "egg on MS's face", as much as DRM has been pushed. DRM did hold the promise of allowing more digital content to flow out through digital distributions, and programs like this are very disturbing because they are so easy to use.

Companies who are using DRM who think they are protected need to be aware of this news, because it may affect their strategy going forward.

Since the news bomb just got dropped a few days ago, the ramifications are yet to be seen, but like you posted, Microsoft will have to move quickly to react... since google is so easily used to find the program, will be interesting to see if Google bans that word.. and then to see what new word will be used in its place to find the file (referencing back to the napster days).

Fight the Digital ReMoval!

my bad.. i didnt look at the link...

i know the issues with MS suing spammers.. but this is so completely different. Websites like engadget (and even XBIZ and AVNonline) can write about such topics, but as long as they don't link to it, they are fine.. but what the reader will do, is go to google, and find the hundreds of mirrors out there.

MS can go and try to trot around the world to shut down the mirrors at the ISP, but again, people will go back to Google to find the new locations as well as the new naming conventions.

This is bigger than the black marker around the edge of the CD to circumvent copyprotection on CDs.


Fight the information wants to be free (but it also wants to be expensive)!

I dont think so..they have try too shut thepiratebay down for years now...and it's still running :pimp
http://thepiratebay.org/legal

Checking in google news, no mainstream press coverage.. must all be out for the weekend..... will be interesting news to track as mainstream coverage picks up on the story.

Fight the internet never closes!

good job gawker media

Yes, but other torrent directories have been taken down when the ISP had responded to such requests.

There are always ISP and countries who just don't care about U.S. laws and that's where these guys thrive, in the dark fringes.

(usually same kinds of places pushing the spam, phish, and CP)


Fight the spotlight!

i think this is different from piratebay... although there is still crazy pirating in china of ms products. it will be interesting to say the least. i have to drm providers and i am having my attorney review them now to see if they covered this in there contracts. i dont have a desire to sue, but i want to see if they (drm providers) ever planned for this....

thepiratebay are Swedish and if you do a search the link to download it are already there :pimp

you mean if you have content encoded by third party DRM providers, whether they have any liability do this cracking of your content?

The small print will probably clear as mud describe to you that they have no liability for reverse engineering, hacks, etc of the encoded media files, that they provide a service to you for the licensing of such content etc....

Alot of the P2P networks were trying to "legitimize" themselves with the hopes of DRM, but code like this just means more people being able to dump more content into the various distribution networks.

Like i said, this is disturbing, because of the promise of DRM to bring more content.

Windows Vista has alot of hooks that would prevent software like this from running (along with programs like camtasia and other driver routing programs), but the crackers won't run Vista.. they'll crack the encryptions and just release to all.. and then due to the bloating requirements of Vista, alot of people won't jump on the upgrade path.. especially if they are from the old Napster times, or entering now into the digital realm who find stealing/sharing as a better means of growing their audio/video collection then buying.

There are several Apple ACC encoding programs already out there, so iTunes is not immune.


Fight the sharing!

Yea, this thread is useless without a download link :1orglaugh

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3516074/...ia_10-11_files :thumbsup

interesting that there are no stories on slashdot.org on this.


Fight the things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Interesting thanks for the link :thumbsup

Yahoo Music is apparently getting hit hard..their signup page is experiencing technical difficulties :)

oh this was a good quote from a forum about MS new zune player if it uses the same drm "This will turn Zune into a Looney-Tune" :error

Napster uses DRM for their service as well.. as well as i am sure all the other non-iTunes services..


Fight the rush!

wow, works pretty well with yahoo, just hate how it adds [NoDRM] in front of each filename

a interesting movie about p2p..
Steal This Movie it's about the piratebay and the us governments attempt to shut it down ..
:pimp

This page has more working links.

FairStuff

I think this will prompt more paysites to move off the browser into more downloadable "itunes-like" software, simply to have more control over the purchase of files. It's interesting to see Adobe push toward this direction with their Apollo project -- making Flash applications launch from the desktop, rather than the browser.

have to disagree with you on that one.... many paysites that started off using DRM, were backing off of it, due to members complaining that after they quit their membership, that videos stopped working.

i have always believed that you shouldn't shut off members access after they quit.. should wait like 6-9 months.. allow them to get use of the file... some may even share it on p2p, with DRM, you are able to track the playing of the files, and even allow others to view it, to be able to pop webpages for them to join, until eventually, you terminate the license and the video just doesn't play anymore.. but i think the early adopters cut members off noticeable short that prompted members to catch on about DRM.. and even not joining sites where DRM videos were found (ie. adult review sites started to track which paysites were using DRM).

So alot of paysites ripped out DRM and there have been several threads these last 3 years about companies doing such things.

So even if new technology comes out to encapsulate video and try to provide rights management, there will be few to adopt it, and then another cracker will come out to open up the file and its right back to where things are at now.

it's a real struggle by content producers to release their content in the digital space due to copyright circumventions.


Fight the switch back to analog!

Eh...maybe. However, what is the percentage of hackers who enter illegally into paysites nowadays compared to the number of crackers stripping DRM?..has this resulted in paysites making their site-login technology less secure out of frustration?
I think it's way too late to convince companies to return to the "good ol days" where content on the internet can be freely traded. Furthermore, how much less money would paysite owners be making if this were the case? How much less value would the product carry if it were freely available to the masses shortly after it was released? We've all felt the affects of the oversatuation of free content on the web -- just look at the tgp/mgp market of today, compared to say 3-4 years ago.
I do think that DRM is a failed technology...but I don't think that's going to stop other cooperations developing better technologies which lower the percentage of content piracy. If you think about it, even if a newer technology was developed - then hacked - the percentage of customers who actually knew how to do this would be relatively low....which would still mean that the paysites are walking away with a profit until another updated version of the anti-piracy technology is released.

drm is not dead imo. but it will always be a battle with hackers. i agree that people will have to get smarter. but just having a content free for all on the net is unacceptabel from a revenue standpoint...

I agree with both you and D_unit's points.... it is a struggle between the content producer to release their content in wider digital distribution vs. getting paid for that work.

There will always be hackers and crackers for any kind of encryption, and those elite circles share those tools as well as content.

P2P has proven itself to be a disruptive technology with further spawns like bittorrent and more distribution systems that make it further difficult to clamp down.

The easier that technology makes things happen, the more disconnected the morality of right and wrong become to the illegal acts.. napster has proven this as a text book case study in the example that RIAA always brings up that you wouldn't steal a CD from a store, but people would download music from napster.

The problem is increasingly growing, because now, there is wide distribution methods for getting new tools out, that go beyond the dark corners of usenet and the buzz spreads through blogs and community websites.

The phrase "information wants to be free" is thrown about so often, but in the quote where that came from, the author also said "information wants to be expensive".

Unless there is control of content, then prices for that content will be high, to offset the losses from theft and piracy.

It could be that content producers will have to raise their prices because if content is being stolen, and there is less consumer demand for that content, then paysites won't be acquiring that content.

But, there won't be DOJ stepping in protect IP of adult content, like is done with Hollywood movies, since that run contrary to the agenda of the "war on porn"..which hasn't been officially declared, but might as well be said...(I'd rather see a 'war on poverty'.. but every 'war' that has been declared has shown poor results).

I can see the genesis of FairUse4WM being such that if you had an iPod and you PAID for the content and it was DRM encoded, that you would want to use it on your iPod, but due to the attempts at control, it has created the opportunity to solve a problem.

I really do feel the release of FairUse4WM and its wide adoption by consumers is really showing how rights management systems have serious weaknesses, that may hamper more content from being released in broad distribution channels.

Going back to paysites.. many have taken away DRM encoding.. but that leaves the content producer with the situation mentioned above.

So this is a very interesting development to follow as the impact of this software reaches content producers, paysites, and consumers.


Fight the grapevine!

Interesting. Do many adult paysites still use DRM or did that pretty much go out of fashion

glad i didnt pay for drm wouldnt be too happy