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iTunes security hole lets users download any pre-release album stream for free

iTunes security hole lets users download any pre-release album stream for free

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daft punk
daft punk

iTunes started streaming the highly-anticipated new Daft Punk album Random Access Memories earlier this week. However, it looks like a security flaw in iTunes is letting users download the full album in a high-quality 256kbps MP4 file with no DRM protection — with the right tool, you can grab this pre-release for free right from the world's biggest music retailer. We've tested ourselves and confirmed this leak to be real — and it works for any streaming album preview on the site. Aside from Daft Punk's latest, the new album from The National is also streaming in advance of its release and the same security hole exists. Using a URL scraping tool simply gives users a link to the full album file, which can then be downloaded through your browser.

Of course, Daft Punk's album leaked before it was even on iTunes, so it's not as if the music wasn't already out there for those not willing to pay — but a leak coming directly from Apple is another matter entirely. It's worth noting that this security flaw is a lot less severe than a similar problem that hit Spotify last week. Since Apple typically only hosts a advance few albums at a time, the damage is a lot more manageable than Spotify's situation — though we're sure Apple doesn't want to contribute to the spread of an album before its official release. We're reaching out and will let you know if we hear anything from Apple.