Jon Johansen, the Norwegian programmer who as a teen incurred Hollywood’s wrath by posting programming code on the Net for copying DVDs, has been applying his abilities to cracking the digital rights management system employed by Apple for songs sold on its iTunes Music Store.

Johansen, along with other programmers, created PyMusique, which pretty much acts like the iTunes software by operating as a portal to the online music store and allowing users to purchase music. However, unlike music purchased through the iTunes interface, tunes bought via the PyMusique software are not copy protected.

This is due to the fact that Fairplay, the digital rights management system employed by Apple, isn’t applied to tracks purchased from iTunes until after the songs are downloaded. This is accomplished through the iTunes software. Simply put, if you can access iTunes without using the iTunes software, your purchases will not be copy protected.

This has resulted in kind of a cat-and-mouse game between Apple and Johansen and his companions, with each side upgrading their software in hopes of thwarting the other side. Apple closes a so-called back door and Johansen and friends open another one, only to have Apple slam it shut as soon as it can.

According to CNET, one of the programmers behind PyMusique, a Pennsylvania high school student, claimed that PyMusique was simply intended as a platform for those using Linux-based computers to access iTunes.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Johansen used a similar explanation when Hollywood went after him for his DeCSS program which bypassed the CSS encryption found on most DVDs. Although DeCSS eventually landed Johansen in a Norwegian court, he was ultimately cleared of all charges.