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Anyone who has visited MP3.com will know that there are a small number of selected mainstream commercial tracks available for download in MP3 format. This is presumably done with the approval of the record labels concerned so there's no problem there.

Today for example, you'll find tracks such as "Your Body is a Wonderland" from John Mayer on the "Download" list.

However, other perhaps more desirable tracks such as "Lose Yourself" by EMINEM or "I'm With You" by April Levigne appear only on the "Listen" list where you can only enjoy them in low or high bandwidth streamed versions without a download option.

Readers Say (updated irregularly) Nothing Yet Have Your Say

Well let me correct that. There's no "intentional" download option provided but if you have even a vague understanding of how the streaming system at MP3.com has been set up then it becomes trivial to grab a nice 128Kbps rip of any track which appears on the Listen list.

Do the recording companies know that anyone with half a brain can download a small but useful list of their valuable wares that should seemingly be only for streaming?

Want a copy of "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones? "Dirty" by Christina Aguilera? "Air Force Ones" by Nelly? No worries -- just grab them from MP3.com where they all appear in the "Listen" section but not in the "Download" section.

Now the question you're all going to be asking me is "how do we do this?"

Do I look stupid?

Although the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) doesn't apply to countries outside the USA, this site (aardvark.co.nz) is hosted in San Diego so publishing the very simple technique which can be used to download any track from MP3.com's Listen list would likely see my hosting company hit with a cease and desist order from the RIAA.

What I will say is that "indirection" is a word you should consider when pondering this little IQ test.

It's also not my intention to get MP3.com into trouble -- they offer a great service to many indie bands and artists. However, I think it behoves them to make sure that they've got locks on the cupboard doors if they're going to be offering streams of commercial tracks.

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