The Mac App Store has been live for less than a day, but already pirates have figured out how to circumvent its DRM to install and run unauthorized paid apps. It’s not Apple’s fault, though: instead, it looks like developers just haven’t been paying attention to Apple’s own app validation advice.
Less than a few hours after the Mac App Store launched it was discovered that a simple cut-and-paste workaround made it easy to crack some paid apps, just by pasting over the receipt and signature files in some the packages of some paid apps (downloaded from piracy sites) with a receipt and signature file from a free app would allow it to run.
One of the bigger apps that is susceptible to this approach? Rovio’s hit title, Angry Birds.
Noob mistakes, of course, and ones that we’re likely to see go away within days as developers figure out what’s required to lock their software down. The Mac App Store is a new and incredible thing, but the road’s untested, so everyone should hang onto their hats for a few days: it’s liable to be a bumpy ride.
