High Definition TiVo Bash Software Hack Claimed

crazyray writes "Fresh on the heels of Sunday's Washington Post's article about TiVo and the broadcast flag, a group calling themselves the 'HD TeAm' is claiming to have discovered a software-only exploit to enable bash on the new $1000 High Definition DirecTiVo. Prior to this announcement, it was thought that this was only possible by desoldering and reflashing the PROM. Perhaps most interestingly, 'HD TeAm' is offering to release the code to the world if enough donations are given to the Electronic Frontier Foundation."

Comments

Smart plan

[irving47]

Maybe that's a good way of doing it. Make sure you don't have any money to be sued for by the MPAA, but have money going to someone who might arrange your legal defense.

Re:Smart plan

[garcia]

The conglomorates haven't exactly cared whether you have money or not. If we all had enough money to support an effective legal defense against the monopolies or enough power to end their money-backed lawmaking schemes we wouldn't be trying grassroots campaigns to end their stranglehold.

Now would we?

Re:Smart plan

[Lumpy]

what does it mater, I'm betting they will release the code in an anonomous way so the corperate Gestapo cant target anyone. And be on the lookout that this will be the way code will be released in the future. it's nice to get credit, but screw it I'll attach nothing of me to code that helps humankind take back their rights.

I hope they are smart enough to not leave any traces of their identity in it so they cant get harassed like the DECSS debacle.

Blackmail?

[SilentChris]

"is offering to release the code to the world if enough donations are given to the Electronic Frontier Foundation"

Uh, why? Just release the code.

Re:Blackmail?

[MooseGuy529]

Why? This should be obvious.

The music, movie, and TV industries in the U.S. still haven't opened up to the idea of sharing things. It was one thing back when TV was analog, and music was on tapes (yeah, they complained back then, but it *was* less of a problem), but now they're scared shitless because they're broadcasting a digital stream, and, although it is compressed, any duplication, recording, or sharing of it would be at exactly the same quality.

So, they try to manipulate laws (DMCA, Broadcast Flag, etc...) their way so that nobody can copy their stuff illegally or legally. The end result is that we need organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation to stand up to them and preserve our rights to use media legally.

A lot of these laws fall into a category which I particularly find disturbing: laws that cure the symptom instead of the disease. Instead of just cracking down on true copyright violation (large groups of people selling pirated movies and such, not some guy who copies a few movies for a friend), they crack down on ways to violate copyrights, or they crack down on ways to create ways to violate copyrights, or they crack down on uses of copyrighted material more broad than what is truly illegal, or they crack down on anything that could eventually lead to copyright infringement.

Now, for some analogies. (I warned you, so don't complain they suck!) People are allowed to have knives, for normal uses such as chopping vegetables. Knives, however, can also be used for violence. If knives were regulated the same way copyright law is looking, we wouldn't be able to have knives because they *could* be used to hurt people. Furthermore, most recipies involving chopping would be illegal, due to the fact that they could induce someone to create a knife for that purpose.

But look at it another way: guns--something whose purpose is solely violence--are regulated. Think about DeCSS--it is used only to decode DVD data to view it; pirates don't even need to decode DVD data to make pirated discs. If the movie industry wanted to crack down on something, it should have been DVD burners (yeah, I know, they shouldn't be regulated either... maybe they should have required a special code on consumer discs, so players won't play DeCSS-encrypted discs [presumably a copyrighted movie] when they are on a consumer disc [presumably because it is a pirated copy]), not DeCSS. That's like cracking down on knives, because they can be used to hurt people, even though they have plenty of harmless uses, while leaving guns unregulated.

Okay, shred apart my analogies. Have fun. But that is the reason we need the EFF--to protect us from corporations that would otherwise crack down on lawful acts.

So why not just release it? As the thread says, the people who have enough money to buy an HD TiVo certainly have enough money to contribute to the EFF, and their very use of the TiVo is an act protected by the EFF. Asking for donations to a good group in exchange for a donation is perfectly valid. If you don't like it, don't give money... someone else will... or maybe not, and we'll never see the code...

Is this the opposite of digital terrorism??

[dgrgich]

I remember a while back the gang of folks threatening to release hacks for the Xbox unless MS paid up - don't remember hearing what happened there. This seems to be similar but completely different - :)

I have to say that I'm against anything that might harm Tivo as a company; I'm a rabid fan who sees signs on the wall that Tivo may be in trouble within the next few years as the cable companies produce low-grade DVRs that do not give the database-powered juicy goodness that Tivo provides.

Just my two cents.

Software-only hacks rule!

[192939495969798999]

Let me be one of the first (today) to say that software-only hacks rule! There are a lot more people that can use that type of hack, then there are that would open the box and do stuff in order to get BASH, or what have you, to work. Having witnessed hardware xBox/TiVo hacks myself, I can attest that if you don't have nerves of steel, you could bump that soldering iron into something important.. and whoops! There goes the system.

OK, dumb question

[GojiraDeMonstah]

What would you be able to do with a TiVo hacked in this way that you can't do now? Hook it up to a different hard drive and store more shows?

Re:Opening Narration

[Anonymous Coward]

Their crime would be "Interfering with a megacorp's right to profit."

Re:Away to Jail with Ye

[a_nonamiss]

"This issue is of extreme importance to the future of America. What kind of message would we be sending to our children if we allowed this kind of wanton hacking activity to go on unchecked? I ask all politicians who value protecting our intellectual property laws to join me in support of this legislation." - italics added for emphasis

wanton - Audio pronunciation of "wanton" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (wntn) adj.

1. Gratuitously cruel; merciless.
2. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction.
3. Unrestrainedly excessive: wanton extravagance; wanton depletion of oil reserves.
4. Luxuriant; overabundant: wanton tresses.
5. Frolicsome; playful.
6. Undisciplined; spoiled.
7. Obsolete. Rebellious; refractory.

OK, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but how does this type of activity merit the use of the word wanton. Genghis Kahn merits that kind of description, but not a bunch of people who want to make the hard drives bigger on their TiVos. Exactly how are women and children being slaughtered by this activity? How can Orrin Hatch say something stupid like that and face no backlash from the mainstream media? This pisses me off to no end! These people are demonizing those of us that just want to upgrade the TiVos that WE OWN.
I BOUGHT THE TiVo, I PAY THE SUBSCRIPTION FEE, I ABIDE BY THE LAW. WHY CAN'T I OPEN IT UP AND PUT IN A BIGGER HARD DRIVE IF I WANT TO?

Sorry for the yelling. This makes my blood boil.

Re:I heard of this before...

[Spaceman40]

[quote] This 'digital blackmail/digital terrorism' leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I hope the EFF does the right thing and encourages people not to donate for this cause. Or perhaps not give out how much money they've been donated. This should not be encouraged at all. [/quote]

If you've RTFA, you'd realize:

The forum offered a bounty for a software hack.

The bounty was funded by donations.

The TeAm just asked for the bounty to be redirected to the EFF instead of to themselves.
So basically, the big deal is that the bounty needs to reach $1000 before they'll release the code, but when it does, they're just going to give the bounty to the EFF anyway. What's wrong with that?
This isn't terrorism, you idiot - write the code yourself if you want it. The comparison "leaves a sour taste in my mouth".

Argh. Mod parent: flamebait.

This is not a good thing

[codefungus]

We don't need people associating the EFF with blackmail.

I wish they wouldn't do this.