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The Little DVD Driver That Could Change Movies
AnnaBlack writes "DVDSynth is a (currently prerelease) low-level driver tool that can sit between your physical DVD drive and any software that accesses it. So far so what, but the extremely clever thing about this is that it can filter the DVD data on the fly. The example applications included currently allow new subtitle sets to be provided for existing films (which could spawn a whole new activity for movie buffs!) but also a very neat little filter that will remove region codes on the fly from any DVD you play. Supplied with full sourcecode and programmers documentation." Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS.
I thought the region codes were handled by the DVD drive, not by the software or drivers. That's why the the regionset tool for Linux exists, no?
They just aren't $40-at-Wally World cheap. That's the real clincher: if you aren't paying tariffs and exorbitant fees for your international media; then The Powers That Be get pissed off. Maybe, just maybe we should start considering the regulations that make it difficult for us (in any country) to access foreign-produced media; and then the technology itself won't matter quite as much anymore.
I think with the interesting people, their lives can't possibly be wrapped up into a nice little package.
For changing subtitles, I use DVDsubber. The region code thing is great, though. Couldn't everything be done better in hardware though?
Isn't this and example of the achilles heel of any CD-encryption/protection technology? The hardware reader has to decrypt it at some point, and then a program can just capture the unencrypted bits and reroute them as desired, for example to an unencrypted image.
If it's dedicated hardware, you just have to make friends with an Electical Engineer.
Hey, I'm just your average shit and piss factory.
Being able to bypass the region code stuff has been avail for a while now. http://www.elby.ch/download/SetupRegKill.exe Also, this still won't help with the dvd drives that have the region checking stuff built into the hardware.
I wonder what difference does it make. To write to a video stream instead of video (with a DVD payer). All problems come when compression takes place. So there would be a need for hardware that makes possible to compress on the fly.
Intercepting video or playing video ta a stream, there's no difference.
Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
I think it would be lots of fun to rip on some of the "great" movies in the style of MST3K or Rocky Horror. Sure, doing it through subtitles is not ideal, but it could still be a lot of fun! It would sure make the recent Star Wars releases 5000X more watchable.
Is this a mix of software and hardware? Are some DVD-ROM drives just un-regioned? Does it somehow rely on the software to participate?
I'm curious because I paid no mind to region when I got my bare DVD drive -- I can play region 1 and 2 discs from linux (mplayer) but haven't ever tried commercial dvd software.
Can someone lay out the steps a PC takes when verifying that it's the proper region?
(with a DVD player)
I wanna say, this is the only tool that will came out with this. Either that or pirated DVDs.
Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
When you can change the region code on your DVD-ROM with a simple firmware flash. I havn't run across a DVD-ROM drive that can't be flashed yet. Although this could be a nice tool for fansubbers. They could avoid some legal trouble by releasing only the translations and making the people buy the actual offical DVDs themselves.
I read the internet for the articles.
One could distribute the edits alone online, and someone else could play their DVD filtered through that editset.
So everyone can remove the "dirty bits" of DVDs. For the right-wingers, that's kissing, nipples, evolution. For the test of us - Jar Jar.
## W.Finlay McWalter ## http://www.mcwalter.org ##
"Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS."
/., the big guys pick up on it and [Emeril voice]BAM![/Emeril voice] Down it goes, in a fiery ball of death.
Based on the way things are going, I'd say not long at all. It seems once something hits
Folks, the powers that be won't sit idly by while new means of circumventing their devices gets published. the only way to defeat them is to beat them at their own game. Politics, politics, politics.
Sent from your iPad.
well since that link is /.
here are some cached links
Google Cache here. Poor little server.
Anyway, seeing as this little guy can effectively extract all data coming from a copy protected device, I guess Palladium type systems are already in-effective. Contraband code? So what - it's already out there.
I would guess that this is a method for creating what is effectively a wrapper for the DVD driver, perhaps more correctly a shim. This means that it appears to be a DVD drive to the OS, and a DVD player program to the drive. This method can be employed to any hardware device - even embedded DRM methods. It may take a while, but it can be done. If hardware needs software to run, that hardware can be emulated with software, period.
The proponents of DRM might eventually come to realise this - if it's an idea, it's hard to keep it in a can. Good ideas are impossible to keep under wraps. To them I say:
The Genie is out of the bottle boys, but it grants wishes to anyone, not just you. Deal with it.
Soko
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
Well.. you could try writing down the model number of your DVD drive and go right over to the firmware page and see if you can find some region-free firmware for it.
It's worked for me on 2 different occasions.
Hardware hackers.. god love 'em..
I think the more pertainent question is how long it'll take Microsoft to shanghai this code (embrace, extend, whatever) for their signed DRM drivers. If it can filter DVD content before it gets sent to applications, it could potentially be used to block copyrighted data from being recorded, or displayed by non-endorsed, non-liscensed software. This sounds alot like the driver tricks considered for sound cards, that would refuse to send unencrypted sound to the computer.
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
Since the link is /.ed, I can't tell if it addresses this or not, but if it just strips out the region coding from the playback, how does it deal with RPC2 disks (that query the drive for what region it's currently running under, and if it gives the wrong answer, bye bye movie)? If it can't handle RPC2 DVDs (most new ones are like this - if you try to play an RPC2 disc on a player that has been modified and it tells the disc the wrong region, you see the annoying map screen), it's not much use to be honest.
I had a chance to mirror the index.html & the source code and binarys before the site went down..
You can pick them up here. It should be a high enough bandwidth site not to go down.
Free means no restrictions, ironic the FSF's GPL forces restrictions, isn't it? What's your definition of free?
So that means that we'll finally get the Episode I without Jar-Jar Binks?
True warriors use the Klingon Google
Damn terrorists.
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
"Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS." Until it gets onto the front page of slashdot...oh wait..
Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS.
Non-region coded dvdplayers are almost defacto now, im not so sure this will cause a stir. It seems to me the big media providers have more or less given up on the whole region thing.
The source code is licensed under the GPL, which isn't mentioned anywhere on the page.
Also from the README...
Which is kinda nice for those of us who don't have $600+ to blow on visual studio. (Or are a student at a uni with the $5 per license deal.)
(sorry, I didn't bother to grab any other files)
Any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from Gods.
Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS
so long as they can get it written in only a few lines of perl and printed on shirts we can all buy
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
I think you're missing something here.
In the future, a Palladium-enabled DRM aware OS could stop you from installing this driver. Or even researching enough to write a similar one. With a DRM OS, Microsoft could specify that only cryptographically signed drivers from approved developers will be allowed on your system. The DRM future is one where you don't control your box. Everything you want to do will have to be approved and accepted. This is not your father's copy protection, and you treat it lightly at your peril.
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
You see, Senator? This is a perfect example of why we need Trustworthy Computing(TM) protection like Palladium(TM). Protection at the hardware level is absolutely essential to stop the rampant piracy of intellectual property that threatens to destroy the entertainment industry.
Imagine, if you will, the billions of dollars in lost revenue, the thousands of lost jobs, the dozens of dollars of lost tax revenue (for those of us who don't shelter our money overseas) if this behavior is allowed.
This is more damning that the threat of VCRs and audio tapes that nearly destroyed our industry in the 1980's. Then consumers could watch television whenever they wanted and fast-forward over commercials. They could watch these shows again and again without new revenue being generated with each play. They could make mix tapes of their favorite music to listen whenever they wanted as often as they wanted, without paying more money, and without being forced to listen to the new music and messages we're selling.
See how much money we lost in the 1980's a direct result of the evil Socialist conspiracy? This is why we need perpetual copyright and why we must control every aspect of the consumer experience. We must be rid of choice; it threatens our very existence. And yours. Imagine what would happen if voters had real free choice of who they wanted in office.
</sarcasm>
Somebody should condense it into about 30 lines of perl code and print it on t-shirts...
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Region protection doesn't cost anything, it's done in software. I don't know if macrovision is added in software of if they use a circuit to do it.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
fifth sigma, inc.
An excellent start, to be sure, but her are a few more features I'd like to see: -Automatic coherent plot insertion. To finally add a compelling story line to those lame new Star Wars movies. -Friends cast declothinator with male/female preference settings. -De-Teshinator. To overwrite awful soundtracks. -Anti-Green mode, to remove annoying bit characters like Tom Green or (as mentioned) Jar Jar Binks. -Anti-Bruckheimer mode, to remove intense close up and schaltzy slow mo scenes backed with Aerosmith songs. So many possibilities....
-Laz
According to my universities handbook, "Guidelines for DVDs on campus are that any media which contains inappropriate language, nudity, gratuitous violence, etc. may not be viewed or possessed (including video tapes) in the residence halls or on campus.." Will this driver filter out all on wanted bad language. There are movies that I like to watch, Star Wars for example, but am unable to because it contains one or two swear words.
If this driver can do that, I wonder if we would be able to watch upto certain rated movies.
This would also be nice for families. If a parent doesn't want a child to view/hear certain parts of the DVD, this sounds like it will be able to bleep that part out. Sounds like this program may take off nicely.
Really? How about the Florida elections of 2000 and 2002? Those sure the hell weren't free of corruption. Bush was "elected" due to rampant voter fraud. And now his brother will be re-elected in Florida - again due to vote fraud.
... but even with palladium, what stop you from using a palladium processor on a CORRECT dvd, and then having a driver non signed in background which takes the bits direct from the screen memory or what is sent to output ? What indeed ? As long as palladium authorise non signed application to run on the same PC as signed application, then there will always be a way. (yeah I know, in the future they will surely try to forbid any non signed app).
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Use this to provide an alternate sound track for Wizard of Oz: Pink Floyd's Darkside of the Moon. trippin'...
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
Independent reviews show that Al Gore should be sitting in the White House right now. Instead of mandating a state-wide recount, the Supreme Court ended recount and handed the election to George Bush. He was selected, not elected President. Ironically, the Supreme Court action was unconstitutional. In a disputed tied election, such a decision goes to the House of Representatives - not the Supreme Court.
There are already ways to flash the BIOS of DVD drives to make them region free...
People are dedicated. Especially geeks. It seems to be a rather trivial problem, due to the wide number of DVD-flash upgrades out there, and most geeks I know aren't hip on the idea 'Its supposed to not read all DVDs'.
thats why IBM is spending billions on Linux. To finally marry Tux with a "boxen" that has the cycles to watch a DVD on Linux. (I don't own a DVD for my computer -- but was plenty pink in the face upon blindly bragging to a Linux/Win fence sitter than Linux was finally "there" enough for him to get his lips off Bill's backside and play his shiny new DVD's on his trusty new AMD 1800+. Well -- I ate some crow (and bought some rounds) over that one. He is back to being convinced that Linux is still only good for routing packets and mail.
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
So does this mean it could buffer a few minutes ahead on the hard drive, and go download short sections of movies off the internet (assuming they were available) when there's a read error (such as when my roommate borrowed my DVDs without asking and scratched some...), all transparent to the player app?
(You could be required to submit a hash of the 10 minutes before (or after) the minute you want to download in order to prove that you actually have the DVD version of the movie, or an indistinguishable copy).
I'm sure glad that micrsoft, hollywood, and washington are working so hard to protect me from evil software like this....
People here keep going "Well, you can flash the ROM and sidestep region-coding that way."
That's just one of the things it can do.
Unrestrict DVD: This filter removes various usage restrictions from a DVD, including region lockout, APS (Macrovision), and disabled fast-forwarding, menu call, angle change, and so forth.
The ability to remove those stupid control lockouts is what's really great. That it gets rid of region-lockouts is simply a bonus.
NOT TRUE. I have rpc-2 DVD drives with original shipping firmware (two of them, in fact), and I can tell you from firsthand experience that while rpc-2 does make life more difficult, it is not by any means a roadblock to region-free playing
VideoLAN and ogle both use libdvdcss for CSS authentication and decryption. What saves you in the case of rpc-2 drives is that libdvdcss implements not one, but three different CSS access mechanisms. Two of them (called "key" and "disc") use the drive for authentication and require the drive region and disc region to match. However, the third method (called "title") attacks the algorithm cryptographically, and in most cases works even if the regions don't match.
In fact, the "title" method can even be used in the case where you have an encrypted .vob file on the hard disk and neither the dvd disc nor the dvd drive is available at hand.
See the libdvdcss documentation for more details.
The inner workings of the cryptographic attack on css are actually quite interesting. As I recall, the attack relies on the fact that blank black mpeg video encodes in a very predictable fashion. Most movies which start with blank black video are thus vulnerable to a known-plaintext attack and the movie's CSS key can be guessed in this manner.
There is a cost associated with going digital too. The last time I checked, hard drives and mp3 players weren't free. You need a place to store your movies and music, hence the analogy holds.
Not necessarily.
Depending on the design, it's quite possible you could lobotomize your dvd player with bad firmware.
It all depends on if the loader routines are in firmware or in separate rom, and what measures the engineers took to ensure a clean upgrade.
while you still can. If it's downloaded everywhere and thousands upon thousands of us have the code, even if it goes the way of DeCSS it couldn't be stopped. Print the source code on T-Shirts, mousepads and mugs. Distribute the binaries via email and AIM and Kazza. They won't stop this one
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
As I'm sure other have pointed out, this tool isn't necessary to play/replace subtitles.
For Windows there is already the DirectVobSub codec/program which overlays, in real time, subtitles on any kind of video stream. If the stream has embedded subtitles, DirectVobSub will provide those as an option; if a file exists alongside the stream file named .language.ssi or .language.sub (eg., Signs.English.sub), it let you use that. It's most easily available through the Nimo Codec Pack.
Sounds like the next expansion-market for Gator if you ask me.
The simplest way is to buy an ASUS DVD drive: just remove the "test" jumper and it is region free. See drawing
YES!!!!
Now I can build patches for movies to put them thrugh a Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatement.
MWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
This is fantastic.
MST3K fan sites will have a whole new outlet.
I can now taunt and mock all the movies I hate.
The next epic geek challenge: A Joel and the bots level treatement of Titanic.
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
Even a third-rate lawyer could easily chew up anybody who tried to assert that "on-the-fly" mods are not copyright infringement. Output to the end consumer is just as controlled as copying. For example, it's illegal to use copyrighted music in a live stage play without permission, even if you never record the final output.
that with his books containing the content that they do, Stephen King manages to die every single day here on slashdot. hmm, i wonder if he gets all of his ideas from doing this.
Well, Bill Gates was shot on December 2, 1999.
http://www.billgatesisdead.com/
So I guess Stephen King felt left out (or is doing a bit of self-advertising to keep his name in heavy circulation).
"Face it, a nation that maintains a 72% approval rating on George W. Bush is a nation with a very loose grip on reality.
I think you're being a little unfair there... ANY engineer with a screwdriver should be considered armed and dangerous to any electronics nearby.
:)
Myself included.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?