Gee! Who could have predicted that! /s

Personally, Iranians hacking a bunch of computer systems are probably the least of our worries now. Jim Salter posted an image that makes a good analogy. https://fosstodon.org/@jimsalter/114730060651034011

Possibly. Probably even. It’s still irrelevant.

Nowadays, Apple is only really big for digital music if you are (or were) already really deep in their ecosystem. Not sure I’ve heard of any devices that play nice with their DRM in a while and last I had looked (admittedly many years ago) they did not have a compatible app for Android.

Apple music was bigger back 15 or 20 years ago for digital downloads due in large part to the iPod, though I occasionally hear of some odd band or another that only releases their stuff on iTunes.

And since this is a linux community, as a heads up, iTunes is only marginally functional, last I heard, in linux. Apparently it can’t detect connected devices. You’ll probably need a Windows or Mac system to run iTunes if you want to go that route.

For CDs, Amazon, ebay, or discogs. Digital music I usually get from the artist’s webstore if possible, otherwise I’ll buy it from Amazon or BandCamp.

One heads up, Buying and downloading digital music from Amazon is a pain in the butt if you have an Amazon Music subscription. Easy and straightforward though without.

Apple music is also possible but you have to burn the tracks to CD using itunes to move it out of Apple’s ecosystem.

I also hear good things about Tidal but I’ve never used them.

In the US, generally, you aren’t so much asking permission as giving notice that your expecting a generate a crowd, despite the phrasing. Freedoms of speech, assembly and association are still a thing.

The purpose behind it is to give emergency services a heads up to minimize obstruction of normal or emergency traffic and to provide some level of crowd control to minimize the chance of flash stampedes. Like if some idiot sets off a firework, everyone thinks it’s a gunshot and started running.

Approval is generally automatic, but failure to go through the approval process could result in your peaceful protest turning into a riot, or being declared a riot.