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Apple strips the DRM out of iTunes
…at a price

By Greg Sandoval

Published: Wednesday 07 January 2009

Apple and the three largest music labels didn't take any half steps in walking away from copy-protection software at Macworld 2009 Tuesday.

Apple could have announced, as expected, simply that the iTunes Store would begin offering songs stripped of digital rights management from now on. Instead, the music retailer secured licences that will enable users to upgrade their existing DRM-wrapped music and strip it of the controversial software - but it's going to cost them.

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An Apple spokesman said: "Users of iTunes can now upgrade their music libraries with a click of a button. For an additional 30 cents per song, a user can receive a DRM-free version of their existing tracks at a 256-kbps bit rate."

The iTunes files will still be in Apple's preferred AAC format, not the more widely supported MP3. A lot of recent digital music products do support the AAC file format however, including Sony's newer Walkman players and Microsoft's Zune and its next version of Windows Media Player.

As of yesterday, Apple will offer eight million DRM-free songs and will add another two million by April.

With the move, Apple's iTunes is also making its strongest foray into interoperability. From now on, iTunes' music should play on any digital player, meaning iTunes users don't have to worry about their music libraries being locked out of some future digital music player.