Anger over DRM-free iTunes tracks

The launch of music tracks free of digital locks on iTunes has been overshadowed by the discovery that they contain data about who bought them.

News site Ars Technica was among the first to discover that downloaded tracks free of Fairplay have embedded within them the full name and account information, including e-mail address, of who bought them.

It suggested that this information could be an anti-piracy measure as it could help work out who was putting downloads on file-sharing sites.

But it also added that the user information was found on all the tracks that people buy on iTunes whether free of DRM or not.

It was not clear, said Ars Technica, whether the data was part of Apple's administration system for iTunes or something else. It said because the data was easy to spoof Apple needed to explain why the data was present.

Other websites said it was only a matter of time before a utility program was produced which could strip out the identifying information.