My Mac is not authorized to play a video 5 minutes after it was purchased

I just "purchased" a free video at the iTunes Store. A few minutes after the download finished, I attempted to play the video as was greeted with an Authorize Computer dialog reporting "This computer is not authorized to play 'title of the video'. Would you like to authorize it?"
I have been playing music, videos and TV shows on this Mac since it was new in September 2007, and my iTunes Purchased list goes back to 2004.
I've investigated further and found ...
1. Recent music purchases play fine, probably because they have no DRM.
2. Recent TV shows get the authorization block.
3. Older music purchases get the authorization block.
4. iTunes on my iBook gets no authorization block.
This is the first time I've seen this authorization warning.
iTunes' Apple Account Information reports "3 machines are authorized to play content purchased with this account." Although there's no way to see the identify of those 3 machines, I quite sure they're my desktop Mac (now getting authorization blocks), my iBook, and my wife's Mac.
Before I take the easy way out and reauthorize my desktop Mac (and possibly lose one of my five authorizations), I'd like to know more about what happened.
Could this be the result of upgrading from Mac OS X 10.5.6 to 10.5.7 four days ago?
-- Ward

Macaroni does a nightly Repair Permissions. I had restarted a couple of times since upgrading to 10.5.7; I did another for good measure. My Mac remained unauthorized.
I took Mike's advice and deauthorized my Mac. As I expected, that dropped my Apple Account Computer Authorizations from 3 to 2. Reauthorizing restored my ability to play protected music and videos.
Although my problem has been resolved, I'm leaving this topic as unanswered because it remains a mystery why my Mac was in authorization limbo.

Similar Messages

  • This computer is not authorized to play "..." after ML upgrade?

    When I attempt to play a movie in iTunes I receive the message "This computer is not authorized to play "..." Would you like to authroize it?  So I type user name and password and hit authorize.  iTunes states the message "the computer is already authorized."  Movies will still not play.
    Under iTunes Store tab both options for 'Authorize This Computer" and "Deauthorize This Computer" are selectable.  iTunes store settings show my computer as authorized. 
    I have deauthorized my computer and authorized multiple times.  Shut down iTunes and restarted the computer.  Some combination seemed to address the issue the first time.  This is the second time within two weeks. Music plays fine no matter what, just movies give me the error.  The movies are all purchased through iTunes store.  Had no problems before the upgrade.
    Any thoughts?  Thanks in advance!

    i had to authorize it two ways, sorry for my rant, overtired

  • I can't play a video I purchased on iPad through my AppleTV. ATV says it is not authorized to play that video. All other videos play fine via airplay. Help.

    I recently purchased a movie on my iPad. I can't sync the movie to any of my computers. I can play the video on my iPad(1) but can not play it through my AppleTV(2) via AirPlay. All other videos on my iPad, play fine. Any suggestions?

    Yes, I've done this. Even signed in and out and went through and disconnected and reconnected all related devices. All other video works over air play, but still comes up with apptv not authorized to play this content for this one video.

  • "Not authorized to play on this computer" after updating my account (new email). How to authorize?

    I recently changed my account email.  Now I've just tried moving my music from an old computer to my new laptop.  iTunes tells me that my music isn't authorized on this new computer, so I need to authorize the music.  Unfortunately, that old email is no longer available to me.  How do I get my music authorized?

    Ah!  I just figured out that it isn't asking me to sign in to my old account, just to the account that used to use my old email as the i.d.  I was able to authorize with my new updated account. 

  • "This computer is not authorized to play this song" How...?

    This is the message that was displayed on a friend's computer when trying to play a song. A box then appeared with an email address, asking for the password. What method was this song put onto this computer if the computer is not authorized to play this song, that I assume was purchased from Itunes.

    Not sure of your question. If you put songs that you have purchased from itunes on a friend's PC, then you have to authorize that PC in itunes to play them.

  • New Mac Not Authorized To Play Music From iTunes Store

    My new Mac is not authorized to play music purchased from the iTunes store. This was my error since I was a bit over exuberant and forgot to deauthorize my old computer before transferring the iTunes library using the setup assistant.
    I do not plan to keep my old computer and will delete the music. In order to retain all my old settings (e.g. copies still available), am I now able to repeat the transfer process using the migration assistant?
    I would like to simply deauthorize the old computer and then transfer the iTunes files a second time.
    Thanks in advance for your help.
    Rod

    Just go to 'Store' in the menu bar in iTunes and select 'Authorize' to authorize your new Mac with your iTunes account.
    If you have authorized 5 computers (the maximum), you can reset them all once a year from the account management section of iTunes Music Store. Access this by signing in and clicking the button labelled with your Apple ID in the top right of the iTunes Store window.
    You can transfer your entire iTunes library (ratings, playlists, date added, last played, playcount etc.) by just copying the entire iTunes folder (containing iTunes Library, iTunes Music and iTunes Music Library.xml) from your old Music folder to your new one.
    Make sure you back up all of your purchased music, it cannot be downloaded again!
    Hope that is helpful in some way!
    Tom.

  • Not Authorized to play purchased video

    I purchase and watch videos all the time on iTunes... but this one is new to me. I just downloaded the new LOST episode, and now no matter what purchased video I try to watch (new or old) i get a message saying my computer is not authorized to play the video.
    I can play any purchased music and podcasts just fine, but not any videos. I deauthroized and then authorized my computer again, but no luck, same thing happens. Need help... thanks!

    Actually, this does not solve the problem. The old accounts I had when I purchased over 1,000 songs no longer exist in Apple's records, so I can't authorize the "old" music under these old account names.
    Only 208 of my 1,100 purchased songs were available on iTunes Plus for $44.00 to acquire all DRM for $0.30 each. The rest of the music will no longer sync with my 5th G 60 GB iPod. And I can't use all these songs in iMovie or iDVD anymore. I could until iTunes 8 came out. Kind of a slimy move on Apple's part, making me pay more money to be able to continue to do something I've been doing for years. They should have paid for the DRM in order to allow me to continue this practice.
    I'm all for artists getting their share and protecting their owner ship rights, but Apple is making enough money to keep their loyal customers (25 years) happy.

  • I purchased a song on this Mac, an authorized computer. I am now getting a message that this computer is not authorized to play the song. Why??

    I purchased a song on this Mac, an authorized computer.  I am now getting a message that this computer is not authorized to play the song. When I provide my username and password to authorize my computer, the song is still not authorized. Why?

    iTunes repeatedly prompts to authorize computer to play iTunes Store purchases - http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1389.  If your country permits re-downloads, delete the file and re-download.

  • Replaced logic board...iTunes now says "not authorized to play music"

    I had the logic board replaced in my Mac Book Pro, restored my 4GB iPod Mini, downloaded iTunes 7.4, and now, when I try to sync with the iPod, I get a message that says that I am not authorized to play any of the music on this computer. I've authorized the computer via Store-->Authorize Computer and have only 2 of 5 computers authorized. I'm wondering if iTunes is seeing my MacBook Pro as a new copmputer because it has a new logic board. I did not lose any hard disk content, so I'm wondering what else the problem could be. Anyone have any ideas on how to approach this? Any help is greatly appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Ethan

    I'm wondering if iTunes is seeing my MacBook Pro as a new copmputer because it has a new logic board.
    Almost certainly. Check out the customer service article.
    http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/authorization/

  • This Computer is not authorized to play "". Would you like to authorize it=

    Is what itunes is saying to me everytime I try to play a song I just bought. I then go to authorize it with my other email address and it says authorization successful! You have authorized a total number of 1 machines out of your available 5.
    So I hit ok, then I go to play the song again and it says. This computer is not authorized to play....
    everything mac I own is falling apart on me I am about to lose it! anyone kind enough to help?

    i had to authorize it two ways, sorry for my rant, overtired

  • "This computer is not authorized to play" any DRM items from iTunes Store

    My iTunes 9.0.3 Library has DRM songs (purchased years ago up thru the end of iTunes DRM) plus TV shows (purchased from 2006 thru two days ago).
    I just discovered none of these restricted songs or TV shows can be played because ...
    *This computer is not authorized to play "name of item". Would you like to authorize it?*
    Before I use another authorization for my Mac Pro (on which everything from 2007 on was purchased), I'd like to understand what has gone wrong.
    -- Ward

    I searched the iTunes forum for help before opening this thread. Thanks, Jolly, for the pointer to the article -- it looked promising, but none of the points apply to my situation.
    I did fresh search of all articles, which found the one Jolly recommended. It found a lot of other articles, most/all of which did not include "This computer is not authorized" even though I put that phrase in quotation marks. Article Advanced Search appears to be broken.
    -- Ward

  • "Apple TV is not authorized to play this."

    Even though I'm iTunes sees my aTV and the aTV is set up on the same network as my computer ... all of a sudden when I select a show to be played it says "Apple TV is authorizing..." and after a while it turns to the little yellow triangle with "!" and says "Apple TV is not authorized to play..." This is very new and just happened today and no settings were changed since the last time something was played. Also, it never showed the "AppleTV is authorizing" with the little loading symbol before this started happening.
    PLEASE HELP! I have reset the aTV to its factory settings, unplugged it, tried different networks and different iTunes (different computers)..... help, please!

    I have been having the same issues as many have had. When I wanted to play ANY purchased content on my Apple TV it would not play stating that Apple was unable to authorize. After much frustration and several calls to Apple, we as I said WE figured it out. Here is the solution:
    1. First make sure that the computer which has iTunes is Updated and You have properly authorized the machine. To test this try playing the purchased content on the Mac first. If it works then go to the next step.
    2. Go onto the Apple TV, go into settings, then reset/restore FACTORY SETTINGS. This will take a while and we restore the machine back to the original settings.
    3. Once prompted enter the access code onto your Mac under the Apple TV in the side bar.
    4. Once this is completed... here is the important part... REGISTER the Apple TV and MORE IMPORTANTLY, use your CURRENT registration email that you used to purchase the content. THIS IT SEEMS IS WHAT APPLE USES TO CHECK FOR AUTHORIZATION. (I wish Apple would have said something about this)
    You should be set to go!

  • This computer is not authorized to play Song name

    Hi
    A couple of weeks ago I tried bying a ringtone from my iPhone and it worked fine. But after syncing with my Mac Mini iTunes i get the error message
    This computer is not authorized to play <Song name>. Would you like to authorize it?
    I've tried de-authorizing and authorizing, also restarting the computer. But nothing helps. The same error just pops up every time I try to play it. I'm using the same apple-id on both my iPhone and my Mac Mini.
    Please help me out

    Anyone???

  • During DVD creation, get this message "Music not authorized to play"

    I cannot get the music to record on my DVD. This just started two days ago right after I upgraded to v 7.3.1 of iTunes. I have successfully burned dozens of DVDs prior to this. I wonder if the iTunes upgrade is not compatible with iDVD now.
    My problem is that I continuously get a message that the 3 songs I am using are "not authorized to play on this computer". This is BS because I downloaded them on this machine and they will play in iTunes. 7 days ago, these 3 songs downloaded onto the first DVD that I burnt, so they are authorized.
    Also I get a message in iDVD that the program cannot access iTunes and that I must upgrade to version 4.0 or later.

    Hi Tom
    Don't know the real problem BUT accordingly
    music/audio from iTunes there
    often is problems about - silece parts when making
    the DVD.
    The work around this is - and might most probably
    help You too.
    - In iTunes select audio needed
    - Export out as an audio-DV .aiff
    - Use the audio on this in Your movie project
    ∆ Now it should work OK
    Tedious - Yes I know but this is a working solution.
    Yours Bengt W
    thanks for your suggestion. I can try that, but it is tedious and I have not had to do that before. I want to be able to do this as quickly as I did before when the music played all the way through and I did not get those messages that said "this computer is not authorized to play this song"
    I want to go back to iTunes, v 7.3 that I used before the recent upgrade to 7.3.1 since that older version worked.
    Are you listening Apple techs???? You have a problem with v 7.3.1 upgrade. I am going to try to do this project on my lap mac which has not bee upgraded.

  • HT1745 quicktime not authorized to play movies rented from iTunes store

    Rented 3 movies last night from the iTunes store. Download began and ended just fine. When I tried to view one of the movies, quicktime opened with this message:  "QuickTime Player is not authorized to play “Clara's Heart.m4v”. In order to play this content, please open it with iTunes"
    So, I tried to open with iTunes, and discovered that I couldn't.
    Any ideas of what to do please? I would appreciate explanations in simpe english as I do not understand computer jargon. Thanks very much.

    Try restarting your iTunes in 32-bit mode, as per the following document:
    iTunes 10.4 for Mac: Older media files may require iTunes to reopen in 32-bit mode
    Does the rental play then?

Maybe you are looking for