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AACS Cracked Again
EmTeedee sends us to a blog post for a summary of the latest results in cracking AACS, from the Doom9 forums (as the earlier cracks have been) — after the DVD Security Group said it had patched the previous flaws. From the DLTV blog: "This time the target was the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on. Geremia on Doom9 forums has started a thread on how he has obtained the Volume ID without AACS authentication. With the aid of others like Arnezami they have managed to patch the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on... It appears that XT5 has released [an] application that allows the Volume ID to be read without the need to rewrite the firmware. This would mean that anyone could simply plug in the HD DVD drive and obtain the Volume ID from any HD DVD without the hassle of flashing it."
Someone really needs to fire whomever the MPAA uses for deciding on security for these things. Haven't they heard the golden rule of computer security? "Security by obscurity is no security" and that's all they are doing is trying to hide a key. Find the key... no security. Sheesh....
That really wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. There's a huge demand for movies, but they're expensive to make and the current movie industry sucks up most of the available investment dollars. There's no "secret sauce" involved in making a movie; it's just very, very expensive, and the people with enough cash to bankroll a film would rather go with an established, sure bet, rather than taking a chance on someone or something new.
If the current players just decided to pack up and go home, the new industry that would rise up in its place would doubtless be a lot more creative -- at least in the short term -- and we'd probably see a lot of new material out of it. In time, it would probably stagnate, too, because that's the way of things.
The main problem with the current situation is that the dinosaur companies have bought protection for their business models from the government, and essentially have propped themselves up. There's nothing bad with companies getting big, but there's also nothing that says they have a "right" to stay in business, either. Failing business models deserve to die, and the companies that rely on them deserve to die, too; when they don't, you're stopping what ought to be a natural economic progression.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
As inconvenient as it is, the real reason for DVD security like AACS isn't for the consumer. Sorry, you're not that important.
/really/ care if you break the encryption, because no DVD-player manufacturer could ever go out and use the cracks to avoid paying Sony / Toshiba/NEC. AACS has done its job, in that sense.
When people invest millions of dollars in developing a standard like HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, or whatever comes along next (UV-DVD?), they need assurances that they will get their money back. They don't make money off of the sale of DVDs, but rather off of DVD hardware. So companies that manufacture DVDs can't just build players, they have to buy little AACS chips directly and exclusively from the standard's creator, and pay them a fee.
They don't
I'm glad AACS was cracked. I don't particularly like the idea that I have to rely on a physical copy of something I allegedly only own the rights to "watch" anyways.