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Microsoft Windows Media Player Encryption Hacked

Posted by Zonk on from the he-sure-is-a-busy-fella dept.

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?"

10 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. nscdec.c by coolnicks · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://nanocrew.net/software/nscdec.c

    "VLC should have NSC support in the near future."

  2. an added bonus!!! by jshaped · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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.

  3. Bring on the MS shills. by Lellor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.
  4. Cool but not super cool by Psionicist · · Score: 5, Informative
    What this does is simply to take one of those files with meta info about a stream and translate it to a human readable format. The meta file looks like this:

    [Address]
    Time To Live=0x00000002
    URL=023m000000001WQ01q07G0S00w02y 0Bm1Z06y0P01b06C0Sm0k06q0QG1Z0780Rm1p06y0PW
    1q02u 0Om1l06q0Bm1f07C0OG1m06a0Bm1j0700TG1m06S0SW1X06G0P G0k06G0R01i0000
    Player Version=020m000000000MD00k0300BW0n02u0Cm0u03K0C000 00
    NSC Format Version=029G0000000008Cm0k0300000
    Channel Version=0x00000083
    Name=026G000000000UKW1b06m0QG1 X06C0OG1p07G0KW1X06G0QG1l0000
    IP Address=02EG000000000KCW0p03C0BW0p02u0Cm0k0340000
    IP Port=0x00000457
    Delivery Mode=0x00000002

    The utility translates it to this:

    [Address]
    Time To Live=64
    URL= /media/files/Cisco.asx
    Name= Demonstration Content
    IP Address=169.254.10.1
    IP Port=22593

    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.
    1. Re:Cool but not super cool by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Insightful
      > 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.

      Something like it would, however, make a damn nice Firefox plugin.

      It's grown particularly galling during the Katrina disaster - if you're a TV station, and you're putting up a 2-minute clip of a news article or interview that you broadcast a few hours ago, why in God's name are you making us re-download it every time we want to view it?

      Your servers are half melted down due to Slashdotting, your bandwidth costs are through the roof. If you must use a proprietary video format (seriously, if you're scared people won't be able to get the XVID codec, what's wrong with good old MPEG?), at least let us download the damn thing.

      You stream live content. You download static content. Is the difference that hard to understand? Or is it that news broa-buffering-dcasters hav-buffering-e a strange sexual fetish for buf-buffering-fering?

  5. Best known export! by firepacket · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    1. Re:Best known export! by billybob2001 · · Score: 5, Funny

      He's Region 2 only - is that ok with you?

  6. Poor Linus by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Funny
    /me puts on a flame suit

    Maybe Linus is just bitter cause he doesn't have a low UID

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  7. What a shameful tabloid-press like headline by flowerp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.
  8. Re:And out come the lawyers by bobcat7677 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bucket of Lawyers? I thought lawyers came in cans? Maybe it's a costco thing. Guess I need to get a costco card again...