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I'm Ryan Lowe, a Software Engineering graduate living in Ottawa, Canada. I like agile software development and Ruby on Rails.
I write this blog in Canadian English and don't use a spell checker. Typos happen.
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» Full-time with Rails since May 2005 » Former committer for RadRails (now Aptana) » I also have a few Rails side-projects in development: 1. wheretogoinTO.com Toronto nightlife 2. Hey Heads Up! TODO list and sharing 3. Layered Genealogy family history research 4. foos for foosball scoring 5. fanconcert for music fans (on hold) Hiring Rails developers? I can telecommute by the hour from Ottawa, Canada »» Email: rails AT ryanlowe DOT ca
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Legal Downloading
So.. in a nutshell... how does this differ from Mp3s, aside from the cost factor? I mean since they want you to burn it to cd, why not just grab the MP3s directly?AAC has certain restrictions on it concerning how many machines one file can be on (3) and who can play that file. This is all managed through iTunes4. Most people are too lazy to burn a CD then rip it to get the MP3s. This makes AAC a sort of "secure, controlled format" when really it isn't. What the record companies don't realise is that there are tools out there that already do AAC to MP3 conversion in a matter of minutes. From the Slashdot review I linked to earler: I do however have an app that hijacks the audio stream before the speakers and allows you to play with equalizers, balance, etc. Oh, and it lets you save the result as an MP3 as well as playing it through the speakers. I fire it up and a few minutes later I have an MP3 that I can't tell from the AAC. So much for that definition of protection.Still, enough people won't convert to their files to MP3s because of the PITA factor and that makes it "good enough". These apps will get easier to use over time. The joke's on us though: AAC is a "good" format but not a great format. The record companies will still sell CDs to audiophiles. This is just a way for them to make money from the people that like to download but feel guilty about it. Should be interesting to see the next step because the digital music cat remains out of the bag. You can bet they won't be happy until it's way back in. Posted at April 30, 2003 at 10:02 PM ESTLast updated April 30, 2003 at 10:02 PM EST Comments
if it makes a sounds on your computer, then it can recorded to mp3. period. nobody can stop illegal copying. » Posted by: roy at May 1, 2003 01:01 AMThey can come pretty close if they have DRM protection all the way to the speakers, plus Macrovision-like protection so people can't record the audio directly via a cable (until its broken). The record companies will always have the PITA factor on their side. » Posted by: Ryan at May 1, 2003 11:20 AMtrue. Only someone willing to go throught the PITA process will do it. i.e. a techie, and not your regular innocent consumer. » Posted by: roy at May 1, 2003 02:25 PMAnd a techie only needs to do it once for everyone to benefit from it. :) » Posted by: Peter at May 1, 2003 06:36 PMIt isn't AAC. It's Protected AAC. AAC itself has no DRM. Just a nitpick. I'll go away now. :) » Posted by: emory at May 6, 2003 09:55 PMWell if someone wants something sobad they there are willing to go through the Pita Process, ya know ya cant stop everyone » Posted by: Jake at May 13, 2003 09:54 AMso can i have mp3s on my hard drive or cant i and can i download them » Posted by: john at October 7, 2003 07:02 AMwhat legal and whats not » Posted by: john at October 7, 2003 07:04 AMAHHHH!!! I'm just looking for a free AAC to MP3 converter!!! Where can I get one? » Posted by: Killian at November 15, 2003 12:47 PMiTunes will convert UNPROTECTED AAC to MP3 files. Just set MP3 as the import preference, then the "Advanced" menu will show "convert selection to MP3" (or whatever the import selection is set to). » Posted by: dan at December 20, 2003 01:06 AMLazy or not, here is a quick way to convert PROTECTED AAC files to MP3. WIthout burning to CD. Drop your Protected AAC file into Toast 5 or Toast 6. Toast automatically converts it to an AIFF file. Double click on the file in the Toast window. In the new window, choose SAVE AS. Your file is now an AIFF file that is NOT protected. Then use any program to convert to MP3. It took me 10 seconds on an old Mac. No Pain In The Axx. » Posted by: Lazy0Smart1 at January 21, 2004 05:01 PMCheck out http:\\hymn-project.org. Is this the Holy Grail? » Posted by: GA at June 6, 2004 12:16 AMI tried the toast solution and it still doesn't work... it appears that there is a song there but when i go to play it, there is no sound. » Posted by: blackcort at October 22, 2004 07:46 AMI have tried the same thing with Toast and all I get is a audio file and no sound. Am I missing something? All the other so called converters do the same thing. You get a file with no sound. Anybody actually been successful yet? » Posted by: forwardesigns at November 15, 2004 12:12 AM |
