Chinese crackers create counterfeit iTunes racket

Chinese crackers have reportedly cracked the iTunes gift card system. The hack has spawned an active trade in counterfeit but functional iTunes vouchers on Chinese auction sites, such as Taobao.com. As the trade has grown over the last six months or so prices have fallen from around $47 for a $200 card to 18RMB ($2.60). Music …

[Funkster]

Brilliant!

Gotta love it when a corporate megalith like Apple messes something up this badly, they deserve to lose the money if they can't invent a secure payment system.

Presumably they will still pay the artists their pitifully small cut when someone uses fake credit to buy an album?

Glad I don't have iChewns anywhere near any of my computers, there's probably a gift code that can make it download malware... :o)

[David]

Yawn... Buying music is crap.

I've taken to humming infectious tunes in ear shot of colleagues who instinctly pick the tune and hum it too . Therefore i can listen for free

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Yawn... Buying music is crap.

I can listen to almost anything I've heard *in my head* at fairly good quality. In fact, I can't turn it off. I think it might be musical tinnitus, but hey, beats the common or garden horrid constant whine tinnitus.

It's the future. Until the crackers figure out how to *hack your brain*.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Sarah

Hmm I always put that down to the quantities of weed I smoke.

I've got a nice ambient track going right now. Beats the hell out of yesterday when it was bloody supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Sarah (II)

Crap! Why did I post that comment?! Now it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious again!

[Ash]

Nice one!

"It's unclear if the illegitimate trade has surfaced outside of the PRC."

It has now. Well done!

[Ash]

@Sarah Bee

Already been done, love: http://www.thinkgeek.com/books/nonfiction/7e75/

[Sebastian Brosig]

@Sarah

Don't let the RIAA know of this. Mind you, sooner or later they'll find you out anyway, and then, woe betide you, you will burn in their hell. Where do the poor musicians profit from you illegaly imagining their music?

[Some Guy]

delicious

mmmm.... Chinese Crackers!

[Anonymous Coward]

It could be worse...

"Do, a deer, a female"---

Oh crapcrapcrapcrap...

[impossimole]

@ yawn

"Yawn... Buying music is crap.

I've taken to humming infectious tunes in ear shot of colleagues who instinctly pick the tune and hum it too . Therefore i can listen for free"

Careful or the PRS will come and extract royalties from you for making a public broadcast!

[Anonymous Coward]

@AC

Damn you! Now I've got supercalifragilisticexpialidocious too!

[Fred]

Why is a title needed anyway?

Thats a shame really. Apple have a good product,

yes im a convert, gave in when i needed a large sized mp3 player ie:ipod for my new adventures, eg: stuck in someshit hole for 48 hours twiddling my thumbs with only my dear ipod for company.

And im a proud convert too :D

[Anonymous Coward]

changing track in 3. 2. 1. to

Hold a chicken in the air

Stick a deckchair up your nose

Buy a jumbo jet

And then bury all your clothes

Paint your left knee green

Then extract your wisdom teeth

Form a string quartet

And pretend your name is Keith

ha ha bet you thought you'd escaped from that one just call me BOFH

[Big Bear]

@Super...super... super...

Gonna have to do this I'm afraid:

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down"

You've been mentally Rickrolled...

[Paul]

I HATE YOU ALL!!!

Now I have supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Dow, a deer, a female.... going round in alternation. GARGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

[Huw Davies]

All together now...

I know a song that'll get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves...

I know a song that'll get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves...

Coat, gone.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: All together now...

You just need a nice song you can always reset your head to if you get nasty earworms. Go on. Think of one you like, hum it to yourself and it'll boot the other one out.

Still, I quite like the idea that several of you are now rolling around the floor howling in pain as your heads are tortured by Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and a load of godforsaken singing penguins.

[Anonymous Coward]

Mutually Assured Destruction

OK you have all fielded some heavy weapons. The only option left is to go nuclear.

May God forgive me.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh - gaaaaaaaaaaah ....

doo, doo, doo

push pineapple

shake the tree"

[Anonymous Coward]

@Re: All together now...

I used to use Green Day Basket Case to perform a reset.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Mutually Assured Destruction

So no one told you life was gonna be this way.

Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA.

It's like you're always stuck in second gear.

When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year...

[Huw Davies]

Right, if that's the way you're going to play it...

Whatsa matter you, hey, gotta no respect.

Whata you t'ink you do, why you looka so sad.

It'sa not so bad, it'sa nicea place.

Ah, shaddap you face.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re @AC@AC

Damn you! Now I've got supercalifragilisticexpialidocious too!

Never mind boys, cheer up and try "supercallousflagellisticexpertcunnilingus" instead.

Paris because......

[Eddy Ito]

Article missed one

"A fix for the problem might prove problematic because adjusting the key generation algorithm might invalidate genuine gift cards."

Who said the counterfeit card numbers aren't already invalidating the genuine card? If the keygen, randomly spitting out numbers by the bucket full, happens to cough an already issued number doesn't it merely create a race as to who cashes it first? I assume using the same number multiple times isn't allowed, of course. That said, it might not always be Apple who is losing money but the sad bloke who paid full price and did their x-mas shopping early.

On that note, something totally inappropriate;

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,

In the lane, snow is glistening

A beautiful sight,

We're happy tonight,

Walking in a winter wonderland.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Re: Mutually Assured Destruction

You win.

I am now living in a mental wasteland, looking to contact survivors.

[Ken Hagan]

I'm going to regret this, but...

...let's suppose that the weakness in Apple's system is not the mathematics, but rather the single point of failure. Specifically, imagine if you could persuade someone to give you the keys. That someone might be an Apple employee who isn't paid as much as the keys are worth (which is probably all of them) or it might be one of your own friends. You, of course, are not some random hacker on a faraway continent. You are a powerful organisation with huge resources and an interest in undermining the Internet. Sure, it's the free speech you don't like, rather than Apple's musical taste, but if you can frighten away the big commercial players then perhaps you can slow the explosive growth of the infrastructure. Put it back into the hands of governments, many of whom can be trusted to use the power "wisely".

Just a thought. Have to go now, to take my pills and hide from the helicopters.

[James O'Brien]

Heh for those who get stuff stuck in their head

I usually just think of the guitar/bass riff to Black Sabbaths Ironman whenever any song gets stuck in my head. Ozzys hallucination inspired music always clears out the offending song :)

On a side note if you were to use these "illegitimate" codes how would Apple find out if you did or not? Curious to see how they would stop it if they dont know which are real or fake anymore. All Ideas are welcome.

[CypherDragon]

@ Sarah 1703

Ok...that was just pure evilness....

But I don't know what's scarier: the fact that you're evil enough to use it, or the fact that you know more than the chorus of that song....

[Anonymous Coward]

@sarah bee :soon they will tax thinking beings.

soon there will be a tax if you are singing a tune inside your head... the music industry is going to install brainwave detectors. as soon asmeone is labeled as a 'thinking person' they will slap a fee on you. Not because you are humming music inside but because you 'might be or could' be humming music inside your head. kind of like with the tax they sdlap on cd burners and emty media...

[Anonymous Coward]

@Sarah Bee: Re: Yawn... Buying music is crap.

reminds me of

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33642

[Kanhef]

Easy solution

Make a database of legitimately-generated keys. After passing the arithmetic check, a gift card is tested against the database, and rejected if it isn't there. Removing the key after it has been redeemed will also block any possible re-use exploit.

As for all your infectious tunes, I remain blissfully immune due to not having heard, or even heard of, any of them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Reset song

I tend to use "boom shake shake shake the room... tick tick tick tick boom"

Of course the alternative is:

de da de da de da do do de da da de do

(the original [copyright violating] hamster dance circa 1999, not the rubbish that you get now)

Sarah:

---------

if you want to call me baby

just go ahead, now

if you'd like to tell me maybe

just go ahead, now

if you would like to buy me flowers

just go ahead, now

And if youd like to talk for hours

just go ahead, now

[JT2008]

Re: Mutually Assured Destruction

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, deedle-e-dee, there they are a standing in a row ...

followed immediately by ...

It's a small world after all ...It's a small world after all ... It's a small world after all ... It's a small, small world ...

bwahahahaha ...

[Jeff]

Get out of my head, it's cold and empty here

This always gets rid of what song is bugging me, I've had to use it about 17 times in this thread

In the town where I was born

Lived a man who sailed to sea

And he told us of his life

In the land of Submarine

All together now...

We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine

[Steve Roper]

My favourite anti-earworm earworm

is the Monty Python march, aka "Liberty Bell"...

Deeeaaaaaaaaa-de-daaaaaaa-de-daaaaaa-de-daaaaaaa-da-da-da-da-da, ta-DA, (boom);

Ta-da, ta-daddle-a-DA, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-DA;

Ta-da, ta-daddle-a-DA, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-DA;

Ta-da, ta-daddle-a-DA, ta-da, ta-da, ta-DA, ta-DA;

Tee-tum, te-diddle-e-tum, te-diddle-e-tum, ta-dum, ta-dum (boom);

Eat that one, earwormers :)

[Adam White]

So much for digital money...

I believe in Mister Grieves

[Neoc]

Re: Mutually Assured Destruction

Damnit JT2008, you beat me to it.

Keep on swimming, keep on swimming, keep on swimming...

[Sir Runcible Spoon]

There are some problems with your comment

This is why I love the Reg! Whoever did the mental Rick Roll is a bastard btw.

Did I ever tell you - my old man's a dustman.

He wears a dustmans cap :)

(or the Adam & Joe - 'where did you boldly go' <- a personal favourite)

[Anonymous Coward]

@Easy Solution

Exactly! I can't believe they didn't do this from the start anyway. Issue gift card, log the key generated, add it to a list of allowed keys, any key not in that list, sod off.

As for annoying tunes, I've had this in my head for approximately 2 years courtesy of some moron at Uni. I've infected 3 other people with it too, be warned.

(Warning - Adult lyrics, but it's the tune that's irritating)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaUxd7cFtws

Doobe doobe dooby do, doobe... doobe,

Doobe doobe dooby do, doobe... do, be, doo

(increase tempo)

Doobe doo be doo, doobe doo be doo

[sleepy]

We don't know the truth . . .

But the most plausible explanation is that this is a cover story for reselling iTunes codes bought with stolen credit card details, so those buying them can imagine they are stealing from evil big business, not some innocent punter whose card has been hijacked.

If you really can simply manufacture valid but untraceable codes, Apple certainly has a big problem. But on the whole, I don't think they are that stupid.

Or perhaps it's a fiendish plan by Apple to trick the Chinese into letting iTunes into every home!

[Jim Carter]

All I have to say is

Mnah mnah

De dee de de de...

(We need a muppets icon)

[Edward Miles]

*deep breath*

I'm blue, da ba de da ba da, da ba dee dab a da dab a dee dab a da!

I have a blue house with a blue window...

Thats all I can remeber, but no I have that cycling round my head! Better go listen to some KSE to get rid of it.

[jubtastic1]

I'd just like to say

My lovely horse, you're a pony no more...

Running around with a man on your back, like a train in the night...

gotta lose the sax solo

[Jon]

Stolen

I thought itunes gifts cards had to be activated at the till before they would work. This is what they say on the stands selling them anyway. Otherwise you could just shoplift a small card very easily in a store; equivilent to the shop putting £50 notes on a stand by the door.

Or has it just been revelead that this is just smoke and mirrors to stop people just picking them up at five finger discount and they are activated all along.

and btw let's do the time warp again!

[Trevor]

what do you call...

A 98 year old buddhist monk with bad teeth and hard skin on his feet and a bone disorder?

A super Calloused fragile mystic vexed by halitosis

[Adrian Barnett]

Don't be wet. (wet wet)

I feel it in my fingers

I feel it in my toes

Love is all around me

And so the feeling grows

Its written on the wind

Its everywhere I go, oh yes it is

So if you really love me

Come on and let it show

[Anonymous Coward]

No title

You are all sick people.

Desperately trying to think of otehr tunes I now have a mad frog on a motorbike driving round my head. If you have no idea what i mean look at youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkHm8uUuT0o

[Huw Davies]

@Edward Miles

Isn't that the Scottish Song?

(I'm Blue, in Aberdeen I will die, Aberdeen I will die...)

[xjy]

what, me worry?

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage...

... among the fields of barley

I belong tae Glasgie!

But

Maybe it's becorse I'm a Londoner

I eat

Boiled beef n carrots, boiled beef and carrots

cos it's goin roon and roon

We're all going on a Summer Holiday

with

My boy Lollipop

Like a Puppet on a String

Oh Diana!

I'm so young and you're so old

but I'm

Leader of the Pack

just

Imagine

Eleanor Rigby

and

Let's Do the Twist again

and Shout

Michele

God Save the Fuckin Queen

and

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

There - that'll see you through the Week - Bitches!

(I Swallowed a Goat

There's a Lump in My Throat

cos

I'm Horny, Horny, Horny, Horny

I'm Horny, Horny, Horny, Horny

I'm Horny, Horny for You Tonight

Take a Wheel and it Goes Round Round Round)

(I Love Parees in ze Spring Tahm...)