Jon as a hacker fence

'DVD' Jon bypasses the DRM in iTunes - Apple fixes the hole - Jon opens up the hole again with his pyMusique software and everyone either bashes Jon for attacking the 'least restrictive DRM' available, or worships him for once again taking on the MPAA/RIAA and being bold enough to title his blog 'So Sue Me'. Except that in this case pyMystique was not entirely created by Jon. It was mainly the work of a 17-year old Cody Brocious with mostly GUI work from Jon and another coder Travis Watkins. Not to take away from Jon's other exploits, but since he has stood up to the industry and survived two major lawsuits, he is now a front for anyone who wants to release any hack that risks a lawsuit.

On a related note, even though pyMusique violates the TOS of iTunes, it makes an important point - Users are willing to pay for music if it does not contain any DRM. It is the recording industry's fantasy that DRM prevents music/movie piracy. All it does is restrict the options of the person who actually paid for the content. Those who want to pirate a song/movie can rip a CD/DVD anyway.

[related: Apple and Sosumi / Sosumi creator sets the record straight / Geeky Mom's take on DRM]

Tags: mpaa, riaa, piracy, apple, itunes, drm