iTunes plug-in disabled

With the latest version of iTunes, Apple has disabled an add-on program that let people transfer songs from their iPod.

Apple introduced iTunes 4.7 last week, announcing new features such as support for the iPod Photo and the ability to find and delete duplicate tracks in a music library. But this week, Apple confirmed that version 4.7 does break compatibility with iPodDownload. The iTunes plug-in is designed to enable iPod owners to copy songs from the music player to an iTunes library, a feature that Apple has not supported.

There are other programs, none sanctioned by Apple, that allow iPod owners to copy or recover music from an iPod, but most require another step for the music to be imported back into iTunes.

Apple has in the past used new versions of iTunes to disable support for third-party software that adds unintended file-sharing abilities to the popular jukebox software. The company has also been pushing users to continue moving to more current versions of iTunes.

An Apple representative did not say why the company had disabled support for iPodDownload. The program's creator had already stopped distributing the software after Apple's lawyers contacted the company that housed its Web hosting.

Sylvain Demongeot said on the iPodDownload Web site: "After Apple threatened my Web-hosting company, and my site was shut down for more than one hour, I had to withdraw the plug-in." Demongeot did not return an email request for information.

Apple declined to comment beyond confirming that iPodDownload was disabled via the iTunes 4.7 update.