So, I'm getting ready to buy an iPod...

[jaguar]

And other bizarre far-stretched scenarios, what UT is obfuscating as far as possible is that fairplay allows 4 machines to be authenticated at once. Of course fairplay also allows you to burn those tracks onto normal audio cds so as soon as you do that, this becomes irrelevant. Apple also tell you how to back up your music. Apple also have a customer service system to deal with the problem UT is talking about, free of charge.

Fairplay is however just a layer sitting on top of iTunes tracks purchased from the iTunes store and has absolutely nothing to do with ripping CDs.

UT - I don't like DRM either but the iTunes store is far better than any other scheme I've seen and has done more for digital music than anything else. You should also declare that you own part of a competitor to iTunes.