OK, OK, this isn’t really a big shocker, but it’s worth a mention for those of you have not yet considered it. Although iTunes is now offering DRM-free music, that doesn’t mean you can go distributing it willy-nilly.

You see, like previous iTunes tracks, the m4a file is embedded with your account information. TUAW’s Erica Sadun did writes:

Try this yourself.

1. Launch Terminal. You’ll need to be comfortable at the command line to perform this check.

2. Navigate to one of your iTunes plus downloads. If you have a US iTunes account, you can download the iTunes plus “Ooh La” single of the week.

3. Use the UNIX “strings” command to look at the text in your data and grep to search for your name. e.g.
strings 01\ Ooh\ La.m4a | grep name
Alternatively, open all the strings in TextEdit:
strings 01\ Ooh\ La.m4a | open -f.

Bottom line: DRM-free doesn’t mean that Apple suddenly supports piracy.

Like I said, no shocker, but keep it in mind before you start uploading albums like crazy.

Don’t Torrent That Song… [TUAW]