@Rachel: There are three reasons I can think of.

First, from the legal perspective. Downloading a song using Limewire or the like is 100% illegal in the united states. Ruckus on the other hand gives you permission to download the music. Removing the DRM is sort of a gray-area. It seems that most of the legal issues that arise from removing DRM are related to breaking the Ruckus terms of service and/or “fair use.”

The second reason, in terms of the end-user is simple. It’s much easier to get caught downloading songs through Limewire than it is removing the DRM from legally obtained music.

Finally, if a person has downloaded even just 10 songs through Ruckus, it’s probably easier to un-DRM those files, than try to find and download new copies.

Is there actually any reason that one should consider using Ruckus take the effort to remove the copy protection and (if necessary) to convert the files over using Ares, Limewire, or some other file-sharing program?

@Rayburn: It MAY be illegal. It depends on where you are located, how you acquired the audio files, why you are removing the DRM from them, etc.

I can’t possible know the laws in every jurisdiction, so it is up to the reader to determine if actually carryout the steps is legal in their situation.

If this is illegal, then why is it available to download if this is posted “for informational purposes only”?

@Kirby: When you run FairUse4WM, there is a selection box at the bottom that will let you select the output location. No matter what your selection, it will not over-write the original files.