JHymn

JHymn Goes Behind Atoms and Apple To Bring DRM-Free Music

As DRM schemes go, Apple’s is, I must say, one of the best for end users. But that’s like saying “the handcuffs are mighty comfortable handcuffs.”

This is via, like, BoingBoing or something.

Last time I looked at Hymn, it operated from the command line and it only worked if you owned an iPod.

Now it’s a gorgeous GUI application and works for everyone.

I just bought a copy of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and de-DRMed it, and it plays great.

Cool.

I can attest to a legitimate need for this tool, speaking as someone who’s upgraded computers twice and never remembered to de-auth his computer for the iTunes Music Store before wiping the old one’s hard drive to sell it. Thanks to Why didn’t I think of that? Because I think of my computer as a computer that I own, and my data as data that I own, not as a things that I rent from Apple that I have to get their permission to do anything with. I don’t think I want to have to learn to think differently, and if I have to break the iTMS DRM to do that, that’s fine with me. (Of course, I don’t use iTMS that much anyway. But still.)