Apple has knocked on the head iTunes 4's ability to stream music over the Internet. The modification comes in iTunes 4.0.1, released yesterday and downloadable from Apple's Web site and via Mac OS X's Software Update system.
iTunes' music sharing facility was launched alongside Apple's online Music Store as a sign of the service's user-friendliness. Touted as a way of allowing downloaded music to be played back on up to three locally networked Macs. However, canny users quickly uncovered the protocol Apple's software engineers had used to implement sharing and began publishing on the Web details of how to extend iTunes sharing to other computers via the Internet.
Apple's motivation in blocking such activity undoubtedly lies in a desire to prevent piracy and keep its relationships with the major music companies sweet. We tried a number of iTunes-based sharing facilities but found no direct way to save streamed songs on our own hard disk - it isn't sharing in the Napster sense - but since there are undoubtedly hacks that allow you to do so - not to mention legitimate apps that can perform the function for you - Apple has a point.
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