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Microsoft Windows Media Player Encryption Hacked
NubKnacker writes "Here we go again. The Register has the story about the encryption in Windows Media Player being hacked by DVD Jon. From the article: 'Jon Lech Johansen has reverse engineered a proprietary algorithm, which is used to wrap Media Player NSC files and ostensibly protect them from hackers sniffing for the media's source IP address, port or stream format. He has also made a decoder available." This has been pending for some time now. Do you see a reason to install Windows/WMP just to be able to view a webcast?"
http://nanocrew.net/software/nscdec.c
"VLC should have NSC support in the near future."
What's he got anyway, a red phone to the EFF? I certainly admire what he's doing, but you know he's not just knocking on the door asking for trouble, but banging with both fists.
i wonder if i can get this to fit on a t-shirt, like my DeCSS shirt...
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
"Do you see a reason to install Windows/WMP just to be able to view a webcast?"
Well sure!!!
But I've already installed Windows for its lovely properties of stability, speed, and beauty.
If Microsoft, the MPAA, and other corporations don't want their systems hacked, they must make sure that there is a way to play the content on alternative systems easily. Vendor lock in is not acceptable and the people have spoken. Linux (and other non-MS OS) users should not be forced to run Windows to play DVDs or ASFs or whatever. That is all.
Liberal Ontarians and French Quebecers are draining Western Canada's wealth. Stop them now! Support Western separatism.
The utility translates it to this:
So you can grab the stream without using the MS program and netstat.
The utility is more like a utility like base64 decoders (this is not base64 though) than a circumventing tool.
Article from theregister.com
Norway's best known IT export, DVD Jon...
Awsome. I didnt know they were exporting those. I wonder how high they tax. I want one.
Girl in the wild west: "DVD Jon, you're my hero!"
DVD Jon (disguised as the Lone Ranger): "Stay here, it's not over yet" (gets out revolver)
Man, I need to stop watching TV...
Personally, if I have to load MS products to view, read, hear, or use something, then I will never view, read, hear, or use that data... period!
If DVD John can crack it, then it wasn't secure in the first place. In my opinion, DVD-J is making the world more secure by showing people that their encryption sucks. Go John go...
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Microsoft is the "industry standard" only because they are big & powerful & have the ability to force others to do things their way. Standards are based upon community support. What DVD Jon is doing is showing that there's little community support for Microsofts so-called "standards".
Maybe Linus is just bitter cause he doesn't have a low UID
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
What I understand from the article is that the actual video stream isn't protected; what's encrypted is the server/file location and (perhaps) a username/password.
Is it really so ? Or have I missed something ? This is exactly the case. And because the address and port are so easy to find through netstat, "It's more likely that the purpose is to prevent competing media players from supporting the NSC format,"
A correct headline would have been:
Proprietary encoding of Media Player Broadcast definition files successfully reverse engineered.
The problem is, no one really makes use of NSC files anyway. Most streaming media is still done as simulcast, not as multicast.
--- Eat my sig.
I think Microsoft should just hire DVD Jon and whoever else and have him write the algorithms and encryption. I know it's counterproductive, and I know he would probably oppose it, but throw enough money under there and most morals head out the door. DRM is coming, and if this guy is going to keep cracking them, you're gonna need someone better than him to write it, or get him so he'll be on their side.
Ah well, until then, what's the next one for him to hack? Can't be too far off now.
According to his wikipedia page, he's currently 22 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Johansen
No! I've installed Windows Media--including the Windows Media SDK, WMP10, and the Windows Media Encoder--because it's a great encoder and is included in the price of a windows system. I prefer the sound of WMA-encoded files to MP3s at the same bitrate. And there are at least 50 music players on the market, like my Samsung, that I can just plug in to Windows and sync with Windows Media Player! No need to install any software (unlike those stupid Creative folks with their virus!). Just plug it in and it works.
Best Buy can have you arrested
Thinking back to years ago when the corporate powers-that-be had a teenager arrested for merely figuring out CSS, I wonder if those corporate bureaucrats realize that they were creating a monster?
I mean, if they had just left the kid alone, his curiousity might have waned and today he might be a stodgy coder writing finance apps.
Instead, they pissed him off, highlighted the system's corruption and injustice, and created a monster.
Bucket of Lawyers? I thought lawyers came in cans? Maybe it's a costco thing. Guess I need to get a costco card again...
This guy used to live and have a "Pot store" in the city where I live.
While I don't agree with his views on dope, I think it's absolute bullshit that he should be arrested and sent off to a foreign country for breaking laws in a country he doesn't even live in. Everybody else around here seems to think the same thing.
If the US doesn't want people buying pot seeds over the internet, then make damn sure they're confiscated when they come across the border.
When are people in the US going to start being arrested and shipped off to China for not bowing to the emperor, or something stupid like that. The US would be up in arms if someone were to try to impose Chinese law on US citizens living in the US, so why the FSCK should we impose US law on a Canadian living in Canada?!
Sorry....I got more and more pissed off as I was typing that, which I'm sure you can see by the tone......
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......