Recently Apple had made the decision to implement Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection on music purchased by users, effecting its Linux-running customers. The change of heart is unsurprising, and the whole-scale switch to DRM-protected tracks is not far away, we don’t think. Of course it blames the Big Four cartel for the ‘necessary change’, but it cannot have escaped customers’ notice that Apple are gradually pulling the wool over their eyes and committing daylight robbery.

The P2Pnet story quotes ipodminusitunes in say that Apple is unhappy with other media players being better than iTunes, and so have cut down the opposition’s chance by

apparently decided to stop them from working with the new range of iPods … This affects Linux users - there’s no iTunes for Linux, so popular Linux iPod management tools like gtkpod and Rhythmbox will not work with the new range of iPods.

There’s been a change, though, as some clever boffins decided to crack and generate the code contained in the tracks, enabling them to be played on any media player, again. Windows users — who will not be able play iTunes tracks on players such as Winamp — will have to wait for a solution to their Apple-based problem.

This represents another blow to Apple from the open-source community, who recently learned and published details of how to unlock the iPhone’s sim card protection. How will Apple counter this move? Stay tuned.

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