hymn project: myFairTunes and QtFairUse

Hymn Project is developed for decrypting iTunes protected AAC (M4P) files so that they can be played freely without iTunes DRM limitations. However, as of February 20, 2008, the hymn project was given a Cease and Desist letter by Apple, Inc. All download files of QTFairUse and myFairTunes were subsequently removed from the main download site.

The moderator of www.hymn-project.org posted a subject on Wed Feb 20, 2008, noted that “no links are to be posted anywhere on the site to programs that can strip DRM from any of Apple's music or videos.” “Because I can no longer remove the DRM from songs I purchase legally from iTunes, I am boycotting the iTunes store and purchasing all my future music from vendors who no longer shackle their music with the chains of DRM. I suggest you do the same. ”

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However, the fact cannot be ignored is that Apple iTunes still sells more than 70% of digital music world-widely. And people are still looking for QTFairUse and myFairTunes, visiting the official site of hymn project and other websites that host or provide download links of the two hymn project software, QTFairUse and myFairTunes. But most of the time, they will be disappointed by the fact that the download links were removed.

The Alternative Way of QTFairUse and myFairTunes

When there is a will, there is a way. If you cannot find QTFairUse and myFairTunes, you can convert iTunes music to MP3 with NoteBurner Audio Converter, without breaking any DRM regulations. Even though MP3 is a lossy audio codec, but the audio quality of MP3 audio is no lesser than AAC.

NoteBurner Audio Converter does not decrypt nor crack the DRM protection on iTunes music. This audio converter adopts a smart way of virtual burning. NoteBurner can virtual burn and rip the iTunes music, AAC, M4P, M4A, or any other music, to MP3. NoteBurner Audio Converter can preserve ID3 tags, such as song title, artist, genre and album art, etc.

NoteBurner Audio Converter can convert any given audio file to MP3, WMA and WAV. It can convert WMA, AAC, M4P, M4A, M4B, WAV, RAX, MP4, RA, SND, OGG, AIF, AC3, MP2 and all other audio formats to MP3, WMA and WAV.

hymn project

Hymn Project is developed for decrypting iTunes protected AAC files so that they can be played freely without iTunes DRM limitations. The purpose of Hymn, according to its author, is to allow people to exercise their fair use rights under United States copyright law.

Hymn project presents many DRM crack programs to help iTunes users to remove DRM protection from AAC and M4P music files. DRM crack software like myFairTunes7 and QtFairUse6 are also available via the Internet. If you need to use these programs, just go to Google and search hymn project, or myFairTunes7, or QtFairUse6.

Most DRM removal programs rely on re-compressing the media that is captured after it is output by iTunes. This causes some loss in quality. However, Hymn can remove DRM with no reduction in sound quality, since it captures the raw AAC stream generated by iTunes as it opens each song, and saves this data using a compression structure identical to that of the original file, preserving both the quality and the small file size.

The Hymn website has announced that, because users can no longer purchase music using iTunes 5 or older, removal of iTunes DRM for now is best accomplished with the use of MyFairTunes6 or QTFairUse6. These programs currently work with the latest version of iTunes (7.5.0 as of December 2007).

As commented by one post in the forum, “That the record labels (and Apple to some extent) have been so short-sighted about DRM. I stopped buying iTunes tracks when Hymn stopped working and I went to listen to music on my Powerbook and it would not work because it lost the authorization. This happened at a cabin in the middle of nowhere, with no internet connection available. My music became useless - thank goodness I had some CD's handy.”

myFairTunes7

When you search “myFairTunes7” on Google, and get the result from hymn.com in the second place, but when you click on the link, you just get "The topic or post you requested does not exist".
www.hymn-project.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1555.

Another source for myFairTunes7 is from sourceforge.net. The description on ourceforge.net stated that “Free your music from the DRM strapped, Apple bound confines of iTunes. myFairtunes converts your Apple iTunes store bought music to an open transportable music format” . http://sourceforge.net/projects/myfairtunes

lifehacker.com provides downloads of myFairTunes6: Download of the Day: myFairTunes6 (Windows)

http://lifehacker.com/software/drm/download-of-the-day-myfairtunes6-windows-198522.php

Adam Pash has a statement for the usage of myFairTunes:

“At the moment, myFairTunes is a pretty young app with room for improvement, but it does allow you to losslessly strip your tunes of Apple's DRM, and it's maturing very quickly. Use myFairTunes6 at your own risk. Personally, when DRM limits me beyond a certain point, I'm all for stripping - unfortunately the Man might not agree with me. ”

QTFairUse

The purpose of QTFairUse is to convert m4p music purchased from iTunes Store into m4a files, without DRM. It dumps the raw output of a QuickTime AAC stream to a file, which could bypass the DRM algorithm.

To accomplish this task it uses a rather uncommon approach: instead of removing the already present DRM, it waits for iTunes to play back the protected file and intercepts the unencrypted AAC data stream as it is sent to the sound card. During this process, it copies unencrypted data, frame-by-frame, into RAM and then inserts it into a new MP4 container that is free of any DRM.

As of February 20, 2008, the QTFairUse was given a Cease and Desist letter by Apple, Inc. All files were subsequently removed from the main download site.

A BBC Report on QTFairUse

25 October, 2006

The code that prevents music downloaded from Apple's iTunes store being played on any portable player other than an iPod has been "cracked". Apple has not commented on claims that Jon Lech Johansen has "reverse engineered" the FairPlay system. Prominent hacker Mr Johansen has made a name circumventing software used to restrict the use of digital media.

Mr Johansen first distributed a program to bypass the Apple system, called QTFairUse, in 2003. Since then several versions of the program have been distributed to keep up to date with new versions of iTunes and FairPlay. The new "workaround" could help companies like these sell iTunes compatible products that could start to scratch away at the iPod's dominance.