12.12.06
How To: Authorize more than five computers with iTunes
I’m not sure of the legality of this one, but Lifehacker pointed to an article about authorizing iTunes on more than five computers. The basic idea is that the authorization for a computer is stored on your local machine. This is a good thing, because otherwise you would need to be constantly connected to the Internet to play your music — not exactly ideal if you have a laptop. What you do is copy this folder, de-authorize your computer, then restore the folder. Voila — re-authorized, without connecting to the music store!
For Mac, the above link points to an Applescript that handles this for you: iTude.zip
LifeHacker notes that for Windows, the directory is stored in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\SC Info. Copy this folder, de-authorize your machine, then restore it, and your music should play.
A caveat to this is that any music bought thereafter will not work, because the authorization key will change on each new song purchased. However, if you just need a quick additional computer for your music and aren’t buying new music, then this will do the trick. Let’s see how long before Apple patches this!