Enjoying those DRM-free music tracks you decrypted using FairUse4WM? Well, it looks like the fun is over, at least for now.

Microsoft recently send out a Windows update that seems to block the Windows Media hacking tool.

We have every confidence that FairUse4WM's author, (a hacker going by the name of Viodentia) or someone else will come along and crack Microsoft's DRM scheme again. But it's anybody's guess how long that will take. When Viodentia released his first version of the program last year, Microsoft responded within a matter of days. It took another half a year before FairUse4WM was updated.

Does that mean it was harder to break the encryption scheme the second time around or just that Viodentia had better things to do? We don't really know. What we do know is that this means if you're downloading music from Napster, the Zune Marketplace, or another store using Windows Media DRM, you'll have to play that music on a Microsoft-approved device for now.

Several months after Microsoft dropped its lawsuit against the developer of FairUse4WM because it couldn't find him or her, the utility has been updated to version 1.3 Fix-2.

FairUse4WM strips DRM from Windows Media Audio files purchased online. The latest version can remove DRM protection from songs downloaded from Microsoft's Zune Marketplace, meaning you can play your legally purchased music on pretty much any device, not just Microsoft's Zune.

It's not clear whether the update comes from the same developer Microsoft was after or a new hacker. However, the new program was uploaded by a Doom9 Forum member named "Divine Tao," which is an anagram of Viodentia, the name the original hacker had gone by.

[Thanks Abdul!]

It looks like Microsoft has dropped its lawsuit against the elusive creator of FairUse4WM because, well... because he's elusive. They couldn't manage to track him down.

FairUse4Wm is a program created to strip DRM from PlaysForSure Windows Media files. It was created by a hacker known to the world only as Viodentia. Microsoft filed a lawsuit against Viodentia for copyright infringement, but since they can't get him into a courtroom, they've dismissed their claim.

Of course, it wasn't that hard for Engadget to track Viodentia down for an interview. Yeah, yeah, we know it's not the same thing as tracking him down in person, but we're just saying...

Anyway, is this all just a big ploy to lure the hacker out of hiding? Probably not. But you never really know now, do you?

A code hacker whose handle is 'viodentia' has been officially sued by Microsoft for cracking its digital rights management (DRM) software. FairUse4WM is the program in question, which cracks the DRM on music downloaded from music subscription services. Engadget's interview with "viodentia" shed light on the developers tactics and how he or she managed to crack Microsoft's code. Microsoft is obviously furious, suing the hacker and 9 others for illegally accessing its source code in order to crack the DRM. Viodentia states that they used only code and files that were freely available from Microsoft in several different software development kits (SDKs). Microsoft of course is claiming that the use of SDK code to crack DRM is a use other than what they intended. No kidding.

On the heels of FairUse4WM being released, QTFairUse6 was posted on the Hymn site, which is an app that will crack Apple iTunes DRM, in a similar way to FairUse4WM. According to InformationWeek, the QT version requires knowledge of the Python language, and isn't quite so easy to use as the WM one. Still, all the news of these extremely innovative tools illustrate the fact that people want their music to be free. Perhaps not all of us know the slightest bit about how to crack DRM, nor would we want to, but no matter who puts these cracking apps out there, we all want music without wires. I am willing to pay, and so are a lot of people, but don't want to be restricted, we don't want our music to be locked down.

[Via InformationWeek]

Critics of online music stores like the new Napster and Yahoo! Music Unlimited say by giving them you're money you're really just renting your music, since if you stop paying their fees, you lost the ability to listen to the tracks you've downloaded. But if the makers of FairUse4M have anything to say about it, that's no longer the case. Engadget has the scoop on this new, probably-illegal program for Windows that strips the DRM from Windows Media 10 and 11 files, allowing you to play those Napster tracks indefinitely, even after you've canceled your subscription. Engadget's Ryan Block says, "we can verify with all certainty that yes, Windows Media DRM can now be easily and quickly stripped from PlaysForSure media services," but it didn't work on their Vongo videos or Windows Media 9 DRMed files. This is a pretty big deal for Microsoft, which has busily been ensuring record companies for years that PlaysForSure is the best way to protect their content. For awhile software has been available that strips the DRM from music purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store--the difference is, one had to pay for each of those tracks in the first place, whereas with Windows Media-based subscription stores, one could buy a one-month subscription and potentially unlock tens of thousands of files for the price of a single CD (or for free, if one takes advantage of a free trial period). Yow.