'DVD Jon' Cracks iPod's DRM Code

Well known software hacker DVD Jon has cracked Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) digital rights management (DRM) technology.

Otherwise known as Jon Lech Johansen, DVD Jon made a name for himself seven years ago when he cracked the encryption code on DVDs. Now, he has broken the code that prevents iPod users from playing songs purchased from competing online music stores, as was originally revealed in early October and reported by MacNewsWorld.

Apple's iTunes features FairPlay copy-protection technology that forces iPod users to download music from its proprietary service -- and only its service. The 22-year-old Norwegian, who now lives in San Francisco, reportedly reverse-engineered Apple's FairPlay DRM technology and now has designs on licensing it to others through his Redwood Shores, Calif.-based DoubleTwist Ventures.

Keeping Up

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment, but with plenty at stake the company is expected to make a counter move. ITunes owns an 88 percent share of legal song download market in the United States, and the iPod claims more than 60 percent of U.S. MP3 player sales .

The digital download service is also making headway in Europe, where music fans have purchased more than 200 million songs from Apple's European iTunes Music Stores in the past two years.

Apple continues to ink exclusive deals with artists, and regularly adds new television content from broadcast and cable television networks. It also continues to add new products to its lineup, including the red iPod nano recently added as part of the Product (Red) AIDS awareness program.

Back to the Drawing Board

DRM issues are troublesome, at best, for content providers, as well as for the electronics manufacturers who host them. This isn't the first time that Apple has seen its DRM technology broken -- and it won't be the last, according to Michael Sutton, a security evangelist with SPI Dynamics.

"The reality for DRM technologies is that they're a deterrent as opposed to an unbreakable fix," Sutton told MacNewsWorld. "Any time that a protection mechanism exists on a client side technology, given appropriate time and resources, it can be broken. Apple is no doubt aware of this and will respond with a revised DRM solution that will send Jon back to the drawing board."

DVD Jon has a knack for drawing the ire of the consumer electronics industry. He was only 15 years old when he wrote and distributed a program that cracked the encryption codes on DVDs.

Much like his recent coup, Johansen's skill allowed many viewers to copy DVDs and play them back on any device. If iPod owners could go to Sony's (NYSE: SNE) or Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) online music store, or even Real Networks' or Yahoo's (Nasdaq: YHOO) digital download subscription service, it could open the market for new competition.

A Digital Arms Race

Regardless of Apple's fate in this case, analysts doubt that the news will cause the music industry to shrink back from its newfound love for digital downloads. Sutton likened DRM to an arms race in which technology vendors will continue to advance the technology and hackers will continue to break it.

"Given appropriate time and resources, anything is hackable," Sutton concluded.