Fans saved 47 of 54 iPod clickwheel games by pooling DRM authorizations in one VM

Ars Technica reported in November 2024 that Apple sold 54 games for clickwheel iPods between late 2006 and early 2009 at $7.49 each, then removed them from iTunes by 2011. Fairplay DRM ties each file to an iTunes account and a specific desktop's hardware ID, so syncing to a new iPod requires the original file and the account that bought it.

The workaround is that owners with a working copy can re-authorize their account through Apple's servers to a secondary iTunes install. If several owners authorize the same install, it becomes a master library that can sync those games to any number of iPods without further online checks; a five-account limit can be bypassed by copying files manually. Reddit user Quix collected 19 games this way but had to ship each iPod to be synced.

Reddit user Olsro started the iPod Clickwheel Games Preservation Project, building a community virtual machine to avoid shipping. Within about three weeks, with other enthusiasts, he had 47 of the 54 games authorised and ready to share.

Re-authorize many owners' accounts on one iTunes install, then share that install as a virtual machine that syncs to any iPod offline.

Apple's own re-authorisation servers still let owners of a working copy move it to a second iTunes install.

Pooling many owners' accounts into one master library gathers games none of them could assemble alone.

A virtual machine removes the physical shipping bottleneck Quix faced.

Once authorised, the library works fully offline, with no further check-ins to Apple.

A DRM tied to accounts can be preserved by pooling the authorisations of many legitimate owners into one shared environment.

Olsro wants all 54 games and says the project could end if Apple turns off the iTunes re-authorisation servers, after which no new games could be added. At the time of the report, 47 games had been authorised. The setup requires running a Qemu virtual machine with USB passthrough.