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New AACS Fix Hacked in a Day

Posted by Zonk on from the oh-day-warr-ez dept.

VincenzoRomano writes "ArsTechnica has just published an update to the neverending story about copy protection used in HD DVD and Blu-ray discs and hacker efforts against it. From the article: 'The ongoing war between content producers and hackers over the AACS copy protection used in HD DVD and Blu-ray discs produced yet another skirmish last week, and as has been the case as of late, the hackers came out on top. The hacker BtCB posted the new decryption key for AACS on the Freedom to Tinker web site, just one day after the AACS Licensing Authority (AACS LA) issued the key.' The article proposes a simple description of the protection schema and a brief look back at how the cracks have slowly chipped away at its effectiveness. It seems it'll be a long way to an effective solution ... if any. One could also argue whether all that money spent by the industry in this race will be worth the results and how long it would take for a return on investment."

6 of 362 comments (clear)

  1. If it's viewable, it's hackable by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Blu-ray discs with a further layer of copy protection called BD+ are rumored to be nearing delivery

    You know, they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Somewhere I picture entertainment execs, having been sold a big and expensive line of B.S. by the firm that developed BD+ (just as they had been sold the exact same line by the companies that developed CSS and AACS), sitting in some board room saying "Don't worry, THIS time it's going to work!" They just don't get it. If it's viewable, it's hackable--period.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:If it's viewable, it's hackable by c00rdb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except the less you buy, the more the industry claims that those losses are due to piracy. It's a never ending cycle.

  2. It's painful to watch... by tygerstripes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My cat does this with spiders. Once he's got one of the hairy buggers pinned, he just sits there and waits for it to make a dash for "freedom". Then he chews another leg off it, and goes back to waiting.
    Whenever I see this happen, I'm torn between horror at the grisly spectacle of such torture, and the guilty pleasure of seeing something I hate being toyed with so cruelly. If I can live with it in my own home, I can live with it in the media market...

    --
    Meta will eat itself
  3. The other side of the coin by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From the summary:

    One could also argue whether all that money spent by the industry in this race will be worth the results and how long it would take for a return on investment."

    Indeed...one could argue that a company would better serve its shareholders and its long term interests by eliminating copy protection completely. After all, at this stage of the game, anyone who wants a pirated copy can either make it themselves, or knows some techie guy who can. Eliminating all copy protection would save money otherwise pissed away on ineffective measures that only serve to annoy legitimate users, and would build a measure of good will and consumer loyalty that is worth more than anything deterring piracy could realize.
    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:The other side of the coin by hal2814 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "...anyone who wants a pirated copy..." (emphasis mine)

      Aha, but that's the key. Most people don't necessarily want a pirated copy. They just want a copy. If the copy protection can be difficult enough to get around to not make it worth the average person's time, then they won't bother getting a pirated version. People who make a conscious effort to pirate the material cannot be stopped, but if you can make it difficult enough to pirate nobody else will bother. I think the movie industry massively failed in that regard with DVDs. It became far too easy to pirate them. I also think they'll also fail here, but I do see why they keep trying. If they can just make it hard enough, most people won't bother.

  4. Re:Bad system by minginqunt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But, you know, most of these hackers aren't even doing this because they desperately want to watch Pirates of the Opening Weekend IV: At Wits End, since most people have better things to do than watch Kiera Knightley and Orloomdo Bland do their best dining furniture impression.

    No, these guys break AACS simply because it's _there_, and the movie industry *dared* them to do it.

    And you know what? By making it more complicated than DeCSS, they made BD+ and AACS simply become *even more fun* to hack.

    These guys should befriend some supply-side economists to learn about incentives and how they work.