Comments on: AOL blocks music-copying feature

Internet giant says its Winamp software shouldn't be used to swipe free songs from Napster and other digital music services.

[zeroplane]

No upgrade for me then

Hmm, I guess that means I won't upgrade my Winamp to keep this feature. :) Or better yet, copy the old .dll from my old player and install it as a new plug-in in the new one.

Marketing hype that waists bytes.

Automatic Updates without my permission?

So AOL can automatically update WinAMP without my permission? I wonder if they can do the same to AIM? This raises the question of how long have they been able to do this? Well I guess it's time to drop AIM and block WinAMP's internet access.

[iKenny]

winamp?

Or switch to iTunes :P

[unknown unknown]

Reply

You turn off WinAmp automatic update checking. If you're really paranoid you tell WinAmp you don't have an internet connection and/or block it in your firewall.

[Jim Harmon]

That may not be enough

I haven't been an AOL user in about 10 years, but the automatic Winamp update may happen whether or not Winamp has access to the internet. This update may come as part of the "AOL software update" that happens routinely the moment you connect.

[applian]

Replay Music

There are commercial packages like Replay Music that can record from AOL, napster and others, make high quality MP3s, and even automatically tag the files with the artist, album, sing and genre.

I don't see what all the fuss is about,

You can see how Replay Music in particular works from here:
www.replay-music.com

[Jim Harmon]

Why worry about this???

According to the EU, Microsoft has got a monopoly on media players... so this Winamp loophole couldn't POSSIBLY be available to all that many people.

(Yes, that was sarcastic)