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I have two computers. My primary computer is a MacBook Pro and secondary is a Mac Mini.

I authorized the Mac Mini some time ago and downloaded several songs from iCloud to play them. This worked fine.

I deauthorized the Mac Mini this morning and received a message long the lines of "You have successfully deauthorized this computer". However, I can still play all the songs in iTunes.

  1. Why is this the case?
  2. How can I deauthorize and remove the content from the secondary computer?

1 Answer 1

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The iTunes Music Store used Apple FairPlay DRM at launch in 2003, but started phasing it out in 2007 with the introduction of "iTunes Plus" higher-quality, DRM-free tunes for $1.29. At some point since then, with no fanfare, iTunes Plus became the standard, and all songs, even at the $0.69, $0.99, and of course $1.29 price points all became higher quality and DRM-free. So it's quite possible that all the songs in your library, at least all the ones you spot-checked, are DRM-free.

You already de-authorized the computer. To remove the purchased music, delete those songs like you'd delete anything.

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  • So effectively there is no guarantee that deauthorizing a computer will "remotely delete" the songs from it? Doesn't this contradict what Apple says about de-authorization? "When you deauthorize a computer, you’re removing the ability to play content that you bought from iTunes" (support.apple.com/kb/HT6283).
    – magnus
    Jul 16, 2014 at 1:31
  • I just noted that the article says "You won’t lose your content, and nothing will be deleted". The content was not deleted but was playable.
    – magnus
    Jul 16, 2014 at 1:35
  • The wording of that support article is out of date now that DRM is a thing of the past (on music at least). It should say that you'll lose the ability to play any older DRM-encumbered tracks you had bought between 2003 and sometime shortly after 2007.
    – Spiff
    Jul 16, 2014 at 3:13
  • I think you have the mistaken assumption that DRM enforcement is 100% checked 100% of the time. That would be a very fragile scheme that wouldn't be able to support playback on devices that weren't continuously connected to the Internet. DRM security checks are done periodically, and de-authorization is generally not going to be instantaneous -- though the next check will fail. Jul 16, 2014 at 3:54

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