Digital commerce developer Navio has announced that it intends to enable vendors to sell protected content which works on Apple’s iconic iPod music players by reverse engineering Apple’s digital rights management technology, FairPlay. The privately-held Navio develops ecommerce solutions for a number of major clients, including Fox and (how ironic!) Sony; it doesn’t strain the imagination to consider that Navio would plan to bring both protected audio and video content to iPods.
To date, Apple has famously declined to license FairPlay, the digital rights management system used on the iTunes Music Store and its iPod music players, which meant only Apple could sell FairPlay-protected content. As iPods ascended into the stratosphere of consumer consciousness, music retailers became increasingly irked they could not themselves sell protected content which worked on the iPod.
RealNetworks seized the opportunity in mid-2004, announcing technology dubbed “Harmony” which reverse-engineered Apple’s FairPlay system, stuffed protected content from other sources
