FairPlay

FairPlay is a digital rights management (DRM) technology created by Apple Inc., based on technology created by the company Veridisc. FairPlay is built into the QuickTime multimedia software and used by the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV, iTunes, iTunes Store and the App Store. Formerly, all songs in the iTunes Store were encoded with FairPlay. Apple later started offering a selection of songs, that after an additional 30 cents per song is charged, could be downloaded FairPlay-free. Apple no longer sells individual songs or albums with FairPlay encryption from the iTunes store. However, apps downloaded from the iTunes store and Apple Music subscription songs saved for offline listening are still encrypted with FairPlay. FairPlay digitally encrypts AAC audio files and prevents users from playing these files on unauthorized computers.

The majority of FairPlay-encrypted content is purchased through the iTunes Store, using the iTunes software. The iTunes software relies on Apple's QuickTime multimedia software for decoding and playback of the encrypted files. Every media player capable of using QuickTime is capable of playing back FairPlay-encrypted files, including RealPlayer, JRiver Media Center, Media Player Classic and Songbird.

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