Seattle - Hackers have once again cracked Microsoft's Windows Media digital rights management, allowing average PC users to remove the security technology on music and video files, the Associated Press reported.

Microsoft has twice before patched hacks created by the makers of the FairUse4M application, which was updated on Friday. The company also sued the anonymous developers of FairUse4M, but dropped the suit after failing to identify them.

The application allows users to freely trade media purchased from Windows-based music services like Napster, as well as turn protected files into MP3s playable on non-supported devices like the iPod.

"We knew at the start that no digital rights management technology is going to be impervious to circumvention," Jonathan Usher, a director in Microsoft's consumer media technology group, told AP.

Usher did not say when Microsoft expects to plug the re-opened security hole.

Related Links:
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