The Dave Matthews Band has posted instructions for Windows-using fans telling them how to circumvent the copy protection on the its latest CD, Stand Up, so that the songs can be loaded into iTunes, and onto an iPod. (Mac users can use the CD normally.) The instructions also include a call to Apple to support secure Windows Media Audio (WMA) files in iTunes, and a request to the band's fans to write Apple requesting the same thing.

At issue is the fact that Stand Up has copy protection that prevents Windows users from being able to use the CD on their Windows machine as a normal audio CD. In order to listen to the tunes, one must drag included secure WMA files to your hard drive, where they can be listened to through Windows Media Player (detailed instructions on how to do so are offered by the band).

From there, however, the songs must be burned to a CD, which can then be used normally by iTunes and iPod, a fairly straightforward circumvention of the copy protection offered by the band itself. Similar to songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store and the other music download sites, secure WMA files can be burned to a CD a limited number of times, though the limits are more restrictive than Apple's.

The band would like to make life easier for Windows users, though not by stopping the use of copy protection. Instead, the band has asked Apple to support the copy protection scheme (secure WMA) it has chosen for its CD, and it wants fans to write to Apple, too.

From the site: "Please note an easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation from Apple, who we have already reached out to in hopes of addressing this issue. To help speed this effort, we ask that you use the following link to contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs into iTunes or onto your iPod rather than having to go through the additional steps above. http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html."

You can use the direct link to read the instructions, which are presented in the band's News and Press page.