[Music] Apple Airplay Private Key published (1 Viewer)

[larsbln]

Hi there,

according to some postings the airplay community key has been reverse engineered and published.
Now it should be way easier to develop plugins for streaming from apple devices to MP.

Article: Apple AirPlay Private Key Exposed - Slashdot

Source: jhl::mafipulation

Would that be possible or did I misunderstood the article?

greetings

Lars

P.S.: is there allready an ongoing thread/plugin related to this?

 

[larsbln]

AW: Apple Airplay Private Key published

pretty amazing progress on this project.

Version 0.5 is out.

Now on GitHub: https://github.com/albertz/shairport

C'mon guys. Over a hundred views and no comment on this? Seriously, this is awesome

What is Shairport?

This program emulates an Airport Express for the purpose of streaming music from iTunes and compatible iPods. It implements a server for the Apple RAOP protocol.

 

[elliottmc]

Apple are pretty sharp on people reverse-engineering their protocols.

I suspect that trying to implement this in MediaPortal would be a very good way to get MediaPortal shut down.

Mark

 

[larsbln]

AW: Apple Airplay Private Key published

I understand your objections against a direct implementation, but thats not what i meant.
What I suggest is a plugin, extending MP's features that can easily pulled if any legal trouble
arise.

The reverse engineering part applies (as far as I understood) only to the ApEx Hardware,
which was incompatible with 3rd party hardware before.
The RAOP-Server compontent seems quite useful. Let's get this one implemented.


Btw: Apple is not as sharp as other companies (e.g. Sony)

 

[SpudR]

And a nice way to get some seriously unwanted legal action on your *ss - who is going to be THAT stupid??

Btw: Apple is not as sharp as other companies (e.g. Sony)

And this is a point because??
Maybe someone could write a Playstation emulation plugin too - is that the suggestion?

lol

 

[larsbln]

AW: Re: Apple Airplay Private Key published

And a nice way to get some seriously unwanted legal action on your *ss - who is going to be THAT stupid??

Btw: Apple is not as sharp as other companies (e.g. Sony)

And this is a point because??
Maybe someone could write a Playstation emulation plugin too - is that the suggestion?

lol

Are you serious? You don't get the point? The key enabling 3rd party software to play music to an ApEx Device has been extracted in 2008 and is now beeing used in vlc player, foobar, etc.
Now its possible to stream music to 3rd party devices and software players.

You really think Apple cares? They focus on Airplay v2 (music, video + pictures)

EDIT: I've looked up the laws and reverse engineering is not a crime in germany if the information are required to fix interoperabilitys in the product:
Source: http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/urhg/__69e.html

Moreover there a same laws in france, itlaly etc.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Programs_Directive
Reverse engineering is prohibited in US only.

So. SpudR. Thats my point.

 

[elliottmc]

Well, you are asking this question on the official MediaPortal forum.

If a 3rd party was to write such a plugin, and it was hosted here or linked from here, then MediaPortal would be complicit in any possible illegal actions. Now I am not saying that such a plugin would be illegal, but when you have as many lawyers as Apple, a project such as MediaPortal would never survive the legal onslaught.

Of course, this is just my own personal opinion.

A secondary issue is that MediaPortal is very Windows-centric. There is probably less demand for streaming music from Apple products. Let's face it, disk space is cheap these days. If you want to play some media, get a big enough hard drive and store the media locally, and it will work faster and better.

Again, just my own opinion.

Mark

 

[SpudR]

The WTO (World trade Organisation) ruled on this a few years back - the reverse engineering itself is not the issue - it's the use f the results that may or may not be...
WTO | Understanding the WTO - Intellectual property: protection and enforcement

Also Apple license Airplay to licensees - this would be a direct breach of this - i.e. legal case.

I think if we watch this proverbial space, then Apple will drop large numbers of bricks from a very great height on this guy...

Oh - Sony are suing the group that cracked the PS3 key AND chasing any developers using the key. The exact same thing that the Apple cracker did...
http://www.thinq.co.uk/2011/1/12/sony-sues-over-ps3-key-firmware/
Big bad headache!

Anyhow - it's not going to happen...

 

[larsbln]

AW: Re: Apple Airplay Private Key published

A secondary issue is that MediaPortal is very Windows-centric. There is probably less demand for streaming music from Apple products. Let's face it, disk space is cheap these days. If you want to play some media, get a big enough hard drive and store the media locally, and it will work faster and better.
Mark

How should there a demand if it was not possible? The feature suggestion aim is convenience. How cool would it be to listen to music in every room, controlled by just one device.
Apple has sold Millions of Airport capable devices and you are saying theres no demand? Sorry I really don't understand.


Well and in answer to SpudR:
You just zero in on legal issues, but they aren't any. Just carefully read my post again + sources. EU laws overrule WTO.

 

[SpudR]

Not going to argue if you CANNOT see the way this is going...
Let's just wait and see Apples response.