just loaded itunes and bought a couple of songs.

when i tried to burn a CD in MP3 format it ignored the AAC files and said it cannot convert protected AAC to MP3

.... so what's the point ???

having looked at options, I can burn in audo format, but is there anyway to burn in mp3 or should i buy audio from somewhere else ?

cheers, mark.

 

Only Apple devices will playback iTunes Music Store "FairPlay" protected AAC files (.m4p). iTunes will not transcode M4P to MP3 internally as this would mean their own application can be used to defeat their own DRM in one click

Either burn your iTMS files as an audio CD then re-rip them to your library using the MP3 encoder or strip the DRM using jhymn and re-import them to your iTunes library.

If you are simply using the CD's to transfer your music to another machine which you are then going to authorise to play back the files, use Disc Burner on the Mac or the free CDBurnerXP Pro on the PC to create a normal data disc.

Either way you'll suffer a generational loss from re-encoding for a second time in a lossy compression format.

As for buying elsewhere, where are you going to go? All of the music stores have this sort of DRM unless you look to something like AllOfMP3.

 

Has itunes changed ? I have burnt 3 cds into mp3 format directly from itunes, which were bought thru itunes. Is this now not possible ?

 

Really? You're saying that you bought a FairPlay protected song from iTMS, iTunes stripped all the copy protection, converted it to an MP3 and then made you a nice data (MP3) CD (not one which would play in a plain Compact Disc player) containing now unrestricted MP3 files which you could easily give to anyone?

 

Anyone know what the legal status is of buying from AllOfMP3 in the UK?

I don't download illegally (really!) and refuse point blank to have anything to do with DRM, but AllOfMP3 looks like a possible solution - provided I can't personally be prosecuted for using it, of course.

 

Grey area and well outside my knowledge but it has been ruled that the service is legally allowed to operate in Russia as it exploits a loophole in their existing copyright law.

AllOfMP3 does not require a license to redistribute copywritten works via electronic transmission. I believe they do make a payment to Russia's PRS-type body for every song downloaded but obviously the record companies and artists make more money from distribution deals. There is no "distribution" in this case as Russian copyright law appears to limit the term "distribution" to physical media (ie. CD/DVD).

The artist is making less money at the end of the day but the question arises, how does it differ legally from you personally purchasing a physical CD in Russia and bringing it back home?