The geek blogs have been busy in the last few days with talk about a way of hacking the Napster download platform giving you permanent copies of tracks which, according the the Napster model, you should only have access to while you’re paying to subscribe.
The hack, using a tool in the Winamp software, enables you to turn the download platform’s encrypted music files into normal
WAV files, which can then be burned to CD or converted to MP3.
Although there is a little loss in sound quality, it means Napster subscribers with a bit of time on their hands can get permanent access to the download platform’s extensive music libraries.
The hack isn’t, actually, a new one and it is quite complicated to use. However a step by step guide to hacking Napster files in this way has begun to circulate online, hence the new interest in the method.
Needless to say, Napster played down the risk of the hack. A spokesman told reporters: "It's not a new thing. We do all we can to make our system as secure as possible for people who want to pay for music." She’s right of course and the hack shouldn’t be a major revelation to label execs, though some at the top of the majors are said to be concerned the hack is getting so much coverage again.
Most
DRM systems, of course, fail to stop music fans plugging their
PC soundcards into an amp and re-recording tracks onto DAT or mini-disk. The logic has always been that if DRM hacks are even just a bit complicated, or require music fans to invest in a bit of expensive kit, then the chances are most people won’t try them. And, as yet, that theory has generally proved to be true.