More than just better quality
May 30th 2007
The ever-watchful lads and ladettes at Ars Technica have discovered something interesting about Apple's new iTunes Plus files--information stored inside that identifies the tracks original purchaser.
We started examining the files this morning and noticed our names and e-mail addresses in the files, and we've found corroboration of the find at TUAW, as well. But there's more to the story: Apple embeds your account information in all songs sold on the store, not just DRM-free songs. Previously it wasn't much of a big deal, since no one could imagine users sharing encrypted, DRMed content.
Of course, with big brother now out of the bag, the question left dangling is quite simply, what will Apple and, one supposes, EMI do with this information? Are iTunes Plus tracks truly "free" or are there strings hidden in the fine print?
Interesting questions to be sure...
