"The Beatles" Apple Lossless on iTunes?

Why pay for a lower rez download version when you could buy the CD's for the same price or less and rip them yourself?

http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Stereo-Box-Set/dp/B002BSHWUU/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1293554340&sr=1-1

Traudio, It makes sense, since download might be gone after hardware/software disaster but unused hard copy will stay forever.

I understand the benefit of having the CDs. That's what I use, stereo and mono versions. I'm just curious if the iTunes downloads are ALAC, but don't want to purchase to find out. I assume they are 256AAC, but some blogs have stated "Apple Lossless".