Copy protection hack applies to both HD-DVD and BluRay, AACS takes action

[j_garcia]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A consortium of movie studios and technology companies backing the encryption system for high-definition DVDs on Thursday confirmed that hackers have stolen "title keys" and used them to decrypt high-definition DVDs through flaws in DVD player software.

Both the title keys and a number of decrypted films have been posted on peer-to-peer Web sites for downloading and copying, a spokesman for the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) Licensing Authority said.

The large size of the files and the high cost of writable hi-def discs make large-scale copying of high-definition DVDs impractical, but the attacks on the new format echo the early days of illegal trafficking in music files, AACS spokesman Michael Ayers said on Thursday.

"We want to make sure we address this now. It has a potentially limited impact now but some sobering possibilities," Ayers said.

The hackers did not attack the AACS system itself, but stole the keys as they were exchanged between the DVD and the player to strip the encryption from the film.

A large-scale failure of AACS could be a threat to the $24 billion DVD industry, which has started to cool and was counting on next-generation DVD sales to reinvigorate it.

The hackers obtained the keys from "one or more" player applications but AACS would not identify them or say whether their AACS licensing would be revoked.

"We certainly have not ruled out any particular response and we will take whatever action is appropriate," Ayers said.

The security breach affects both of the high-definition DVD formats -- Sony Corp's Blu-Ray and Toshiba's HD DVD, Ayers said.

The confirmation of the attack comes about a month after a hacker called Muslix64 described in an online posting how he defeated the encryption system by using DVD player software.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Interesting. Shows you that there is someone out there with more smarts.

 

[Audioholics]

They spend all their time crippling stuff instead of advancing the format and technology and making it more practical for consumers to watch movies at home.

This is why on-demand will ultimately win out over any format.

 

[Sheep]

There's no beating the Downloading generation. They will always find a way to make even the most protected files obtainable.

SheepStar

 

[f0am]

Ive still yet to see this crack functioning for anyone but this guy.
I kind of want to say its a hoax.

 

[MACCA350]

A large-scale failure of AACS could be a threat to the $24 billion DVD industry, which has started to cool and was counting on next-generation DVD sales to reinvigorate it.

Anyone wonder if the downturn in DVD sales are actually due to the public knowledge of these new formats coming to the market over the last year or so? I know I haven't been buying ANY DVD's purely because of this. Seems to me they brought this on themselves by having two competing formats instead of a single progressive step from DVD to the next High Definition format, people would have had confidence in a risk free market and be willing to put their money into it.

Their idiots, they never learn and it serves them right

cheers

 

[avliner]

There's no beating the Downloading generation. They will always find a way to make even the most protected files obtainable.

SheepStar

I'll second that either. That's a a neverending war, which reminds me something I've heard a while back:

"when the moralist created the chastity belt, the smart guy immediately invented the can opener"... That's it!

Cheers.

 

[j_garcia]

Anyone wonder if the downturn in DVD sales are actually due to the public knowledge of these new formats coming to the market over the last year or so? I know I haven't been buying ANY DVD's purely because of this. Seems to me they brought this on themselves by having two competing formats instead of a single progressive step from DVD to the next High Definition format, people would have had confidence in a risk free market and be willing to put their money into it.

Their idiots, they never learn and it serves them right

Yep, I totally agree that is what is going on. People are on the fence, so not only are they not buying the new formats, they aren't buying DVDs either.

 

[HookedOnSound]

My opinion has changed

I used to be in favour of DRM until something happened in my household: kids.

I have enough ruined DVDs that I no longer let my young ones touch the originals. Same goes for CDs.

I don't buy many dvds but if it wasn't for the fact that hackers have come up with tools to circumvent these encryption schemes I wouldn't be able to make backups (DVDs) that I let the kids use. Simply put, DRM does not equal fair use.

The collaborative intelligence offered by the use of the internet will triumph.

 

[j_garcia]

They aren't trying to prevent fair use, but that ends up being a side effect of trying to protect their bottom line from true thieves. The consumer gets stepped on in the end. They don't realize they end up damaging the very market they are trying to protect most of the time.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I haven't been buying too many dvd's lately for a few reasons. first I don't want to have to double dip whent he format war is decided. Secondly, I don't think there have been as many good movies being made or coming out the last year or two as there were before that. I don't really trust downloadable movies, yet. I've never seen one, I just "feel" that the quality could be compromised vs a physical dvd.

Jack

 

[j_garcia]

I hear that. I used to buy about 4-5 movies a month at least, and this last year I bought maybe 10 all year. Not enough movies that I felt I wanted enough to own them, so that is a factor as well. I wasn't fence sitting, I already knew I was going to buy a PS3, yet I only have 2 Blu Ray movies so far because the title selection still SUCKS.

 

[goodman]

I agree. Most of the content provided is abymsmal. Most of it isn't worth buying, renting, or hacking.

 

[abboudc]

Personally, i don't think DRM has anything to do with copying or preventing theives. Thieves will always be able to steal the content.

What DRM really does is makes the user buy a "license" to use the software, but only on certain hardware. Want to run it on different hardware? "Oh, that's another license". You have a DVD and want it on Blu-ray? Buy it again. No discount, no trade in, nothing. $30. Thank you. Scratch your old disc? So sorry, too bad, $15 for a new DVD. They want the same person to buy the same content over-and-over-and-over again. They count on it.

If it was really about protecting content, you'd buy a license to the movie/song, and be able to obtain a new copy for the price of the media. Scratch your disc? Bring it back, have it replaced at the cost of burning a new one. The movie industry is now starting to get a taste of what the music industry is undergoing....customers are tired of getting screwed and are starting to fight back. The MPAA is the only thing holding back gigabit ethernet, as they continually lobby against it, for fear of faster downloads will lead to rampant movie downloads. They've also been successful in getting ISP's to put QOS limits on torrent bandwidth.

The music industry is pretty much toast in my opinion. You no longer need a record label to promote or record an album. For $5000 and posting a video on YouTube, any band could be the next big band. The great equalizer.

It's a lot harder in the movie business, there's no leveling the playing field, but they're going to have to come up with a better business model than continually trying to screw over their consumers.

 

[HiJon89]

There's no beating the Downloading generation. They will always find a way to make even the most protected files obtainable.

SheepStar

Totally true. If it is possible for the disc to be played by anything, it is possible for a hacker to copy it. The only way to make something secure is to make it completely unplayable by anything, which then renders it rather useless.

 

[BMXTRIX]

My opinion on all of this:

It sucks. Period. Not just that someone feels the need to break the encryption, but that the studios must spend so much of their time and resources to put encryption into place at all.

The solution is clearly NOT better encryption, since someone will find a way to beat it, but likely will be tied to more dynamic encryption and a stronger focus on MMC and better customer care.

MMC?

Mandatory Managed Copy: The ability to make copies of the movies you buy onto other things as protected content.

Really, I imagine a future where movies are like iTunes. You hit a download page, pick a few movies you want to own (or rent) and then over the next couple of days the HD version downloads to your Vista PC. But, that's just the very start... Your new Yamaha media player is DLHD (downloadable HD content) enabled, and it automatically updates your movie list to show your new rentals or downloads you own. Up in the kids room, your new Sony flat panel is also DLHD enabled, with Ethernet straight into the back of the TV. You bring up the movie listings - password protecting any content you don't want the kids to have access to - and a few buttons later, Nemo is playing in HD on the display.

Want it in your car? Fine - a couple of clicks and a movie is sent via Blue-Tooth to your vehicle.

How about over to a friends house? Pick up your 10GB Bluetooth enabled Flash storage device and press a couple of buttons. Before you know it a copy of the movie, in full HD, has been put on the device, but it can only play for a few days before it expires.

Disaster strikes! Your hard drive fails and all your movies are lost!

Wait, your online purchases are maintained in your customer account. After a few minutes confirming all your details, 100% of your movies are available for you to download over the next few days/weeks onto your new hard drive.

Would you buy into all of that? Does it all make sense? I mean, I clearly am just making this crap up off the top of my head, but I see that as becoming a next generation reality where video media is as open to whole house usage as our music currently is. Even moreso though with further integration with our networks and wi-fi, yet with a maintained encryption that is updated to protect the studios from those teenagers (or others) who just want to rip them off.

No more "out of stock" movies.
No more "cost of production" for DVD discs.
No running to the store to return a late rental.
Faster turnaround time then Netflix could dream of - at a lower cost!
No scratched discs!
HD that can be customized at that start for your display and may have a cost associated with that customization (1080p costs more than 720p, but your displays are 720p so that download matches better).

Right now, it's about as good as it gets, and it isn't that good. They seem to have focussed so much on the DRM, that they forgot that MMC was supposed to be a part of this as well.

 

[Reorx]

I am all for it.
I have a kid who loves breaking cd / dvd's (grrr). If they werent copies of my original, I'd be screwed.

I've paid for the movie, isnt it my right to be able to have my own copy?

Anyways, I've heard all the arguments on both sides. I think that the movie industry is wasting our money. "Our money", because the money they spend on this, they are getting from us, by raising the costs of movies.
A better way to spend that money would be to make high quality movies that dont suck.

http://www.slyck.com/story1390.html

 

[JackT]

The collaborative intelligence offered by the use of the internet will triumph.

Triumph at what?

You can't force people to develop and release movies.

One possible effect of this "triumph" is that fewer movies will be made available.

 

[f0am]

New broken DRM method reported.
http://www.alex-ionescu.com/?p=24
Once again, I have yet to see a working release of these cracks from any of the authors.

 

[davo]

Apparently Muslix64 did the pirate thing after he/she bought a hi def tv and dvd player of the same make yet couldn't get it to work properly because of HDCP.
I guess some people don't like to be pissed of when they do the right thing and get screwed anyway!(Don't we all )