Decius wrote:
I don't agree. "As long as you don't do anything wrong there is no problem" is not an acceptable explanation for secret mass surveillance by a business. If they are going to encode your personal information into files they are selling you that they claim are unencumbered, they ought to tell you they are doing so. This shouldn't be some secret that gets rooted out by curious individuals. The point of advocating that they simply sell undrmed files is that people will purchase music because it is the most convenient method of obtaining it (as has always been the case), and that some incidental share is tolerable (as has always been the case). People who engage in such incidental sharing have a right to know that their personal information is attached to it.

If it is shown that iTunes is reporting that information back to Apple when a track that you purchased is played on my computer, I'll join you in your disfavor.

If, on the other hand, this data is embedded to enable tracking on file sharing networks, and is not otherwise reported, I remain completely uninterested.

It's only surveillance if you're being surveilled, and it's only wrong when you aren't doing something you shouldn't be. I don't like cameras in public places because it's surveilling me doing things that are completely innocent. I reject the argument, in those cases, that if I'm doing nothing wrong, I have nothing to worry about. Identifying who's sharing these particular files on Bearshare is different. They've already engaged in something they should not be doing, so surveillance is acceptable.

The situation I noted first, in which iTunes is surreptitiously reporting back to Apple, is not acceptible. We'll see which it is and then I'll amend my attitude if necessary.

Of course, it's moot at this point. Since it has been identified, a tool will exist approximately right this instance to strip those data from the files, probably automatically.

RE: Apple hides account info in DRM-free music, too