[audiotaku]

So, it's just over a week since I switched from my an iPhone to my 9790 and 64gb Playbook courtesy of Currys PC World. I have a Mac and an Apple Tv, so as you can imagine I've purchased a lot of films and TV on iTunes. Now I have my BlackBerry dream team, my only major gripe is the DRM protection on the videos prevents me from transferring them to my new devices.
I know the DRM is on there for legal reasons but I've spend hundreds on those videos and right now the only way I can get the good of it is on my Apple TV, but I want to play them on my Playbook. You know, get the good of that roomy 64gb.

Can anyone suggest a DRM removal software? Surely it can't be illegal if I own the rights after the initial purchase?

[FF22]

I am don't think we are allowed to reply very directly to such inquiries as it could get Crackberry in trouble. And I've never even seen Itunes.

But you might google something like "itunes video drm removal" and see if anything useful pops up.

Oh, and welcome to the dark, darker, darkest side of the Tech World.

[BigAl_BB9900]

In the UK it is legal (explicitly clarified in statute law) that you can digitise content that you already own so that you can play it on other platforms, have a backup, etc (you are not permitted to pass on these copies). I'm not a lawyer, but to me, what you want to do, seems perfectly ok....

[saudadeii]

iTunes Store and DRM-free music: What you need to know | Macworld

Can I upgrade my current tracks?

Yes, but it’ll cost you, and it’s an all-or-nothing proposition. In other words, you can’t pick and choose which tracks to upgrade. Start by going to the iTunes Store home page, and clicking on Upgrade My Library under the Quick Links heading. Once there, you’ll see a list of all the songs and albums that are available for upgrading, with a price next to each. But the important number to look at is the price next to the buy button, since that’s how much it’ll cost to upgrade your library. iTunes charges 30 cents per song, 30 percent of the current album price for complete albums, and 60 cents for music videos.

[wayne504]

The only free way that I know of is to burn the tracks onto a CD/DVD then re-import from the disks you created. Of course, you will lose some quality doing it this way.

This is one of the many gripes I had with itunes.

[Blkacesvf41]

Yes, iTunes can be really irritating. My wife installed it on our PC because of her iPad. Well, every time I wanted to move some of my CDs to my PB it would not let me do some of them. On our new netbook I'm just using the Windows media player and have no issues whatsoever.

[bdegrande]

iTunes Store and DRM-free music: What you need to know | Macworld

Can I upgrade my current tracks?

Yes, but it�ll cost you, and it�s an all-or-nothing proposition. In other words, you can�t pick and choose which tracks to upgrade. Start by going to the iTunes Store home page, and clicking on Upgrade My Library under the Quick Links heading. Once there, you�ll see a list of all the songs and albums that are available for upgrading, with a price next to each. But the important number to look at is the price next to the buy button, since that�s how much it�ll cost to upgrade your library. iTunes charges 30 cents per song, 30 percent of the current album price for complete albums, and 60 cents for music videos.

Or if you have a lot of music with DRM on it, you can pay $25 one time for iTunes Match which will convert all of your old DRM files into higher bit rate files without DRM.

However, the original poster was asking about films and TV shows and not music, which is much more difficult There are ways of doing that, but I don't know if they should be mentioned here (and the DRM involved has nothing to do with iTunes, it is from the content providers, iTunes hasn't had DRM on music for years, but the studios still insist on it for TV/movies).

[djenkins6]

There are three apps which get good reviews itunes sync, itunes video sync and music upload apps for the playbook. You still have to pay the drm removal fee but these help the management.

[audiotaku]

Can I start by saying I was fully aware there was a 50/50 chance that what I was asking (re: videos, not music) might not be entirely kosher, and as such, a direct reply may result in a slap on the wrist. I have no desire to get any member of CBforums into trouble from the admins. I guess I was just curious why Apple's dominance in our industry needs to extend to their media in such a way. I think it would be an interesting case to look into, considering that iTunes is one of the largest digital retailers on the planet, yet however popular the iOS lineup is, sales are still dwarved by android and other OS platforms.
It's a real shame. I work in the tech sphere and as such I flit from device to device fairly regularly.
Regarding music though, I did purchase iTunes match over xmas for my Apple TV, but even before then I was able to copy all my music successfuly to my blackberry and playbook without a hitch. Perhaps that is as I reside in the UK.

Thanks to all above that chimed in to this thread.

[Texasguy999]

I know iTunes Match can replace the DRM-locked music tracks with DRM-free 256kbps tracks, but for DRM-locked video contents from iTunes, iTunes Match can do nothing, however you can use this iTunes DRM removing tool to get rid of the DRM protection. GL!