Protected WMA's

[henryt1966]

i didn't see a tech area, or anything like this, so hopefully posting this here is ok..

i just got an IPOD, however, i am not having an easy time getting protected WMA's onto it that were paid for from my music service. already tried burning them to CD, but nero won't allow protected WMA's to be burnt to CD.

anyone know a work around to this? i need to convert them to mp3
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[Landru]

http://www.wackbag.com/showthread.php?t=27878 :action-sm

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[henryt1966]

eh, none of that helps...fuck this DRM shit..fuck it...

[Smoke]

I'm not sure you can use WMA with iPods, Apple's whole goal is to keep iPod users using iTunes. I don't know of any specific way to unlock WMAs permanently.

You can thank the RIAA for the draconian Digital Restrictions Management. Just download off Limewire, and if they catch you claim it as reperations of Versaille.

[Taso]

Burn your WMA files onto a cd as a playable music cd, then rip that cd to MP3 format

[Smoke]

Burn your WMA files onto a cd as a playable music cd, then rip that cd to MP3 format
Aren't WMA's already a lossy format so you lose some quality just from buying them, then to CD which may lose more info in converting from WMA to CD Audio, then to MP3, which is a lossy format...

Just save time, download via BT, Limewire, etc.

[roche]

eh, none of that helps...fuck this DRM shit..fuck it...

I agree. DRM fucking sucks.

[henryt1966]

Burn your WMA files onto a cd as a playable music cd, then rip that cd to MP3 format


read my original post again good sir...

[Taso]

read my original post again good sir...
I am sorry sir, but you dont need to just limit yourself to Nero, a quick search will get you any type of burning program that will allow you to burn WMA files.

[henryt1966]

I am sorry sir, but you dont need to just limit yourself to Nero, a quick search will get you any type of burning program that will allow you to burn WMA files.


silly goose..they all burn WMA's, but i have yet to find one that burns PROTECTED WMA's...

[RandomNY]

Tunebite does a good job at getting around the PROTECTIONS for both Itunes and WMA..

That only problem is that it's a realtime recorder, so you will have to play your WMA's then TUNEBITE will record them and then you can upload them to your IPOD.

http://www.tunebite.com/index.php

Try this... A friend of mine has used it along with downloading TONS of songs from NAPSTER and it works like a charm. He has almost filled his 20 GIG IPOD with stuff from NAPSTER..

[zagman76]

silly goose..they all burn WMA's, but i have yet to find one that burns PROTECTED WMA's...

Nero burns protected WMAs, so does MusicMatch's Jukebox. The key is really when you purchased the WMA, you need to look at what that store's policy is as far as the "transfer" of those WMA's to other devices.

Some will let you burn 3 CDs with your license, some will let you burn 10 CDs. Some let you transfer it to an unlimited number of (flash based) portable devices, but only let you transfer it to 1 HD based device.

Some will let you transfer the WMA to 2 devices (Laptop/Desktop). Some only 1 device. Look at the store you got the songs from, and check their policy on transfer.

[TaZMaNiaK]

Nero burns protected WMAs, so does MusicMatch's Jukebox. The key is really when you purchased the WMA, you need to look at what that store's policy is as far as the "transfer" of those WMA's to other devices.

Some will let you burn 3 CDs with your license, some will let you burn 10 CDs. Some let you transfer it to an unlimited number of (flash based) portable devices, but only let you transfer it to 1 HD based device.

Some will let you transfer the WMA to 2 devices (Laptop/Desktop). Some only 1 device. Look at the store you got the songs from, and check their policy on transfer.

The store has absolutely NO SAY in what you do with the file once they charge you the $0.99 for it. Once you pay for it, it is yours to do with AS YOU PLEASE, as long as it is for your own personal use, and not sharing. That's called "Fair Use". Fair Use states that you can make as many personal backups as you'd like of any music, data, or video that you have purchased legally from a legitimate source. That includes copies of CD's for the car, office, bedroom, living room, and wherever else you'd like to keep a copy of your favorite CD, as well as unlimited ripping to as many digital players as you own. DRM is bullshit.

That being said, download a file called FreeMe here (http://home.wanadoo.nl/lc.staak/freeme.htm). It strips the DRM protection bits off of any DRM-protected .WMA file. Make sure you read the creator's Philosophy in the zip file before you use it. He created this program to give Fair Use rights back to the consumer, not to enable file sharing.

[Dr Norton]

That being said, download a file called FreeMe here (http://home.wanadoo.nl/lc.staak/freeme.htm). It strips the DRM protection bits off of any DRM-protected .WMA file.



Have you checked this site lately? It still works but the freeme doesnt work anymore, they already closed the door that allowed the freeme to do its job.

[roche]

Have you checked this site lately? It still works but the freeme doesnt work anymore, they already closed the door that allowed the freeme to do its job.

He figured it out.

[zagman76]

The store has absolutely NO SAY in what you do with the file once they charge you the $0.99 for it. Once you pay for it, it is yours to do with AS YOU PLEASE, as long as it is for your own personal use, and not sharing. That's called "Fair Use". Fair Use states that you can make as many personal backups as you'd like of any music, data, or video that you have purchased legally from a legitimate source. That includes copies of CD's for the car, office, bedroom, living room, and wherever else you'd like to keep a copy of your favorite CD, as well as unlimited ripping to as many digital players as you own. DRM is bullshit.

Not to be a dick... but that is not entirely true. Yes, Fair Use says that, but record companies have a larger stake in DRM.

Here is a quote from the TOS of musicmatch.com (http://www.musicmatch.com)

Downloading Tracks & Albums
Music downloaded from the Musicmatch Music Store is for your personal use only. Tracks and albums in the Musicmatch Music Store are encoded at CD quality in 160kbps Windows Media and include high-resolution cover art from the original album. Downloaded tracks are automatically added into your Musicmatch Jukebox Library once they have finished downloading. You may play your tracks on up to five PCs at the same time. If you want to play your tracks on an additional PC, you must permanently disable one of the other five PCs. You may burn tracks and albums to CDs for your personal use, though you may only burn the same playlist seven times. You may play tracks on digital music players that support secure Windows Media. For a list of supported players, click here (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:void%280%29;).

From Napster (http://www.napster.com):
9. What can I do with music I buy on Napster?
The songs and albums you buy are yours to keep forever. You can burn an individual song as many times as you like and the same songlist up to 7 times. You can copy your music to 3 computers, and transfer it to a compatible MP3 player an unlimited number of times.

From WalMart (http://www.walmart.com)
When I buy downloads from Walmart.com, what can I do with the music files?
By purchasing a music download, you can:


Download the music to 1 computer and back up music to 2 additional computers (see instructions below)
Make 10 burns to a CD
Make unlimited transfers to a portable device
DRM lets the store set the policy for transfers/burns...digitally... all of which is easily avoidable if you buy the song once, burn it to CD and then re-rip it to mp3, WMA, ogg, etc., etc. - that's when the DRM is truly "broken".

[Miky234]

I don't understand why do you have to burn it and then rip, complicating your life endless ...
I use www.tunebite.com, and apart the fact it is a real-time coverter, it's super easy to use.
Start it, let it run in the background, load the whole list of protected files, select output format and let it grind. I let it work over night or when I'm at work, and it gets the job done without any further assistance :icon_cool

[Sandokan]

wow...very nice software, I've just purchased it and works real nice. I used in the past other software to do this, but with the introduction of DRM 10 they stopped working :icon_frow
Thanks for the tip

[Dr Norton]

I don't understand why do you have to burn it and then rip, complicating your life endless ...
I use www.tunebite.com (http://www.tunebite.com/), and apart the fact it is a real-time coverter, it's super easy to use.
Start it, let it run in the background, load the whole list of protected files, select output format and let it grind. I let it work over night or when I'm at work, and it gets the job done without any further assistance :icon_cool

Another great lil program is Audacity it works basically the same way but has way more functions and options as far as editing

[Razor Roman]

Henri...

try using Windows Media Player to burn the songs... it may ask you for a username or password before letting you play it, but you should be able to burn it with WMP.

[Miky234]

Henri...

try using Windows Media Player to burn the songs... it may ask you for a username or password before letting you play it, but you should be able to burn it with WMP.

He is talking about protected WMA's. I don't think you can burn protected WMA's with WMP. The freakin DRM won't let you do it :icon_cool