The cat-and-mouse game continues between Microsoft and a sole hacker who is releasing software that strips away digital copyright protection for media played on Microsoft products.

Repeatedly, an anonymous hacker known only as "Viodentia" in internet postings has distributed updates of a program that remove the software lock that Microsoft created to protect digital movies and songs from being freely copied by Internet users, the New York Times reports. The lock is intended to prohibit users from making illegal copies of movies or songs played in Windows Media 9 or 10 formats.

The hacker first uploaded the tool to websites on August 19, and Microsoft replied with a security patch on the 28th. But a new version of the tool was uploaded three days later, which worked around the patch. Microsoft's programmers still haven't found a suitable counter for the hacker's latest response, and the company is facing a potential loss of confidence among the music industry in the company's ability to provide copyright protection.

Apple, too is a target. Hours after it released a new version of iTunes this week, hackers responsible for a program that strips away the FairPlay copy protection from songs updated their program to work against the new Apple software.