The backlash is starting: just weeks after launch the new version of iTunes featuring the Apple Music Store, today Apple modified iTunes to include "a number of performance and network access enhancements" - in reality just weasel words for removing the ability to stream between Macs across the internet.
Apple has a real problem here, so soon after launching their new music service, they've now clearly demonstrated the problem with relying on software-as-an-appliance - it's easy to cut consumers off at the knees. What's worse is that those who were using this facility as a convenience (e.g. to stream their music collections from home to work - it never did allow users to copy music Napster-style) may not have the expertise to work around the new limitations; but those who want to pirate music will do so (of course, by the time this is posted they already have). Since there is already a mechanism for authenticated Macs sharing music for personal use they should have allowed this to take place either locally or over the Internet as well.
Apple released a statement to MacCentral:
Rendezvous music sharing, another new feature in iTunes 4, has been used by some in ways that have surprised and disappointed us. We designed it to allow friends and family to easily stream (not copy) their music between computers at home or in a small group setting, and it does this well. But some people are taking advantage of it to stream music over the Internet to people they do not even know. ... The new iTunes 4.0.1 update limits Rendezvous music sharing to work only between computers on a local network (its intended use) and disables music sharing over the Internet. All iTunes 4 users should upgrade to iTunes 4.0.1.
The Apple Music Store got off to a great start, but the honeymoon period was all too short.
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iTunes update disables Internet playlist sharing [via MacCentral]