How to Convert / Transcode DRM protected Video and Audio files to Play them in Linux

[any ANONYMOUS forum user]

In recent times, I made the decision to buy an iPod (in retrospect - a mistake), and then made the further mistake of signing up to Apple's iTunes Music Store, and worse still - actually bought some DRM encumbered music ... including some encrypted music videos. As you might have guessed, the novelty has well and truly worn off now.

Thing is, although I do have access to a Windows machine, primarily I use Linux, and much prefer storing all my multimedia on a server, then streaming it over the network to MPlayer or Amarok.

How can I Convert / Transcode DRM protected Video/Audio files to Play them in Linux