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Blu-ray Protection Bypassed
ReluctantRefactorer writes with an article in the Register reporting that Blu-ray copy-protection technology has been sidestepped by muslix64, the same hacker who bypassed the DRM technology of rival HD DVD discs last month. From the article: "muslix64's work has effectively sparked off a [cat]-and-mouse game between hackers and the entertainment industry, where consumers are likely to face compatibility problems while footing the bill for the entertainment industry's insistence on pushing ultimately flawed DRM technology on an unwilling public." WesleyTech also covers the crack and links the doom9 forum page where BackupBluRayv021 was announced.
...lasted a bit longer than CSS...maybe next time they might make it last a whole 6 months, maybe even ***gasp*** a whole YEAR before "pirates" start enjoying their blowjob while consumers just get a spiked dildo in the ass.
Living With a Nerd
Sounds like Muslix is doing his part to help keep the entertainment industry regular.
This guy's the limit!
Microsoft and Apple are smart. Disk based DRM is doomed since you can't actually upgrade disk drives and disk media that easily, even with encryption programs written dynamically on the disk.
So as disk-based DRM is consistently wrecked, but can't be updated until the next hardware cycle (~7-8 years at least), which alternative becomes obvious?
Software based DRM via network downloads. You can update the DRM-ed player in the next software patch, automated via Internet distribution. Apple is covered with their iTunes store, and Microsoft has been working frantically on heavy DRM in Vista and WMP.
Now you know why.
Again, as with HD-DVD, all that's happened so far is: - he has implemented decryption using the fully public specs - he has recovered some per-disk keys (using a clever technique) by finding them in the memory of software players Neither format should be considered cracked until a standalone software player could play all disks (independent of an online key database) a la DeCSS. That said, major props to him for actually getting done what he got done. The plaintext attack he used to recover the software keys, as described in one of the forum posts, was a nice touch.
"Honey, I have to reboot the TV because it's just gotten a security bios update and TiVo won't record until it sees the update. Oh, and I'm sorry the DVD player doesn't work: the last automatic update turned it into a spam-bot and I had to turn it off or get sued under CAN-SPAM 2.1"
668: Neighbour of the Beast
is that you can't just run the program to decrypt all your Blu-Ray(or HD-DVD) disks, you need to locate the key and use that to get the unprotected data.
This sounds like a right pain in the arse. I'm used to buying DVDs willy-nilly and just shoving films onto servers, PSPs, iPods, XBMC etc as the mood takes me. It always works, I just press a couple of buttons and away I go.
Reading these stories have made me think - I'm now even less likely to buy a HD disk than I am a standard DVD. I buy a HD disk in the shop and I've now got to worry, can I get the key for this disk? will it be for the right region? will it be the right version (you can be sure once a disk is cracked they'll shove new keys on all future pressings).
I don't think I can be arsed with all this really.. much easier just to download un-encrypted and know it'll work on everything I own, forever. FFS I'd pay more for the pirate version than the legit one given the chance.
My next prediction is the appearance of a site that'll serve keys. You put your HD disk in your machine, run a util that gets a hash from it, searches online and decrypts the disk automatically.
*scampers off to register hd-keys.com*
Now that Blu-Ray can be pirated, there's a chance the format might take off. This could have a positive benefit for PS3 sales.
The crypto is only as strong as the algorithm, and the method used for key management.
The argument that DRM is "workable" breaks down because the encrypted message is delivered to a party who is expected to BOTH decrypt the message, and NOT know the keys. But the keys had to be used to effect the decryption!
Basically, it makes very little sense.
The only way that DRM can work is if the playback device does not trust its user. Which means that it CANNOT be a general purpose computer.
The next generation of "DRM Operating Systems" cannot support general purpose computing. Pretty much the only way to guarantee that DRM will work is for such a computer to not allow ANY non-DRM compliant software while DRM content is playing.
In other words, while the DRM movie is playing, your spreadsheet won't.
But, since music playback while working is common, we can safely predict that DRM restrictions will be lifted from music. Movies? The next generation may well support "single tasking while movie is playing" mode.
If this is not done (as well as locking out all non-DRM approved drives and kernel extensions), the keyset can be recovered from the player software.
This crack just demonstrates this particular weakness. When I probe a cryptosystem, I look at the algorithm used (are there errors in the implementation? is it a good crypto algorithm? etc.), the keys (key length, is brute force possible or is the key recoverable from a known encyrpted plaintext, was the key produced by someone sane, or an idiot, etc.) and key management (where and how are keys stored and published etc.).
Remember "Spaceballs": the code is: "1", "2", "3", "4".
It is also good to remember that once a single digital copy is "cracked", the work doesn't have to be done for that title again.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
http://hdkeys.com/