IT IS GOOD NEWS

Aye. Hail to the happy hackers haven.

It really is just a game for crackers. A challenge. Raise the stakes make it more complex. MMP but with real money and real people.

Really, how do you make a copy proof DVD when all the data necessary to decrypt it has to be on the DVD?

You build a device that makes a bit for bit copy of the digital image and burn that image to the copies. After you steal the image, a clandestine DVD factory can make them by the millions!

Each legal disk would need some kind of unique signature to foil this scheme.

One would need to do something akin to Microsoft software activation to assure the disk is somehow married to a specific player to make copying more difficult .. not very practical unless your DVD player is connected to the internet to receive unique keys. Then it would probably need to write something to a burnable portion of the DVD on first play activation.

--- CHAS

Wow, all the money they spent on content protection and the legal fees, and the PR, etc. wouldn't it have been easier to just lower the price of the discs, instead of spending money on this crap?

Everyone thought this would happpen, and so soon, its almost like pie in the face...

AACS - What an incredible waste, when will this industry learn? Now if someone would break HDCP :)

Well, it seems that HDCP issues have been addressed in part already...

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http://www.immateriblog.de/archives/000242.html

09.07.05
HDCP copy protection? Don't break it - outsmart it!

German electronics company Spatz offers two new devices that seem to not have received the attention they deserve. As German IT magazine c't reports in its current issue, the "DVI HDCP" and "DVI MAGIC" hardware converters foil the movie studios' attempts to deliver HDTV signals over "secured" lines only in order to prevent high quality video copying.

The converters don't do anything to the "High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection" (HDCP) technology, licensed by Digital Content Protection, LLC, which works by modifying both display devices and host graphics systems to provide a protected link between the host (video transmitter) and the display device (video receiver) - see Wikipedia definition.

Instead, it uses the HDCP chips ususally built into high definition displays, so that HDCP "protected" signal sources uncomplainingly deliver their signal to the boxes. They then convert them to RGBHV or unprotected DVI signals.

This means that HDCP sources like HDTV, HD DVD or Blu-ray Discs can be made to work with equipment using analog or "unprotected" DVI inputs.

c't reports that when testing the boxes, a LCD TV set without HDCP support displayed pictures in all modi and resolutions, from PAL/PAL Progressive to NTSC/NTSC Progressive and 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) without problems. The built in HDCP chips' labels had been removed, so that it was impossible to find out where they came from. c't also reckons that chip supplier Silicon Image and its licencees will look more closely at whom they sell their parts in the future.

Which would be a pity, I might add.

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Crack it all I say.

What ever copy protection technologies they create, there will be someone who will break it (and they usually release it as a free tool).

The companies are wasting time and resources on inventing new technologies for making it harder to copy, and thereby they are getting the costs incurred from the pockets of the consumers.

But reduction in the prices will create a situation, where people feel that it is cheaper/easier to buy rather than downloading or copying it. Ofcourse there will always be people who never buy, but this will definitely lower the piracy rate.

Those red faced raving control freaks from the old media companies need to understand one thing. If it can be played, it can be copied.

"However, with the large amount of data stored on high-definition discs, sometimes reaching 10 gigabytes or more, at this time large-scale copying would be impractical."

Impractical?

300GB harddrives available for sometimes less than $100 and dual layer DVD's as low as $1.95/disk. (retail prices)

Whats impractical about it?

Sharing it via torrent or downloading it would be highly impractical even with the fastest connection. And managing a 10G file just takes too much time. MP3 and DVD are good enough for the size trade-off.

where is a Double layer disk for $2 there like $12 for 3! well at walmart

They're talking about large scale copying like pirated DVDs.

Rest assured that there will be, eventually, more and more HD content (re)packed with Xvix/Divx/whatever with the target size of single layer DVDR once they actually manage or are able to do that.

It might not be 1080p/i resolution but if its more than what DVD offers, its more than enough.

Three disks is not really large scale copying now is it?

Large scale copyers would be buying them by the 100 lots or more.

Verbatim Double Layer 8.5GB 2.4X to 8X DVD+R DL Media 100 Pack in Cake Box Spindle (Five 20-Pack) - Free Ground Shipping $195.00

http://www.supermediasto...yer-media-100-pack.html

Thats $1.95 a disk.

It was only a matter of time.

Wish they would just make the discs cheaper instead of making the consumer pay for the R&D of worthless DRM.

Basic simple protection is fine--but agreed, making it harder to crack is not the solution. If anything (and I'm not suggesting they do this) they should go after any companies who utilise the crack/hack or whatever, rather than prevent it from being hacked to begin with. However, in truth there is simply no easy solution to this problem--every "solution" ends up hurting legitimate consumers from backing it up, and no protection at all makes it all too easy to copy it and give it to all your friends too.

If I knew of a solution that would work for the consumers and the movie companies, I'd point it out here. There simply isn't any simple fix to this that works for both parties. If only consumers would be more honest, that would work--but since we're all humans, that isn't gonna happen...

That's the point. Companies managers are far from honest nowadays, the majority of them at least--and that's the reason of so many scandals and so many issues inside Corporations and Multinationals in general.
They have no clue about what capitalism is all about, they have a communistic Chinese-regime like mentality that replaced true capitalism with a fake one which is based on fooling the customers and oblige them to pay whatever the price they decide to set for any product.

The only easy solution is to go back to the true capitalism of the '50s and before and that would mean setting the lowest possible price for any product, ensure competition by breaking up any monopolies (like Reagan did by splitting up the telcos monopoly in the '80s), which would mean Microsoft is the first that should be forced to split up and no one had the courage to do it so far, make void all the laws against non-profit copies done by end users and enforce laws against only those who sell non-original copies.

"which would mean Microsoft is the first that should be forced to split up and no one had the courage to do it so far, make void all the laws against non-profit copies done by end users and enforce laws against only those who sell non-original copies."

I'm not so sure about that part. Again, I am not denying the potential hazards of letting a huge monopoly continue to grow--but then again capitalism is supposed to ENCOURAGE innovation, and if too much innovation means you get punished, companies will have to be capped. Microsoft can only be so innovative until the government splits them up because they make too much money--you see the problem? This road of thinking again moves more towards socialism: let the government decide, rather than the people.

Now, I understand why you're saying that--the other side says Microsoft hasn't been innovative ever because they just steal other people's stuff and merge it all in one big pot they call Windows.

Whatever, I'm not here to argue that--neither side will ever completely 'win' that argument. However, if Microsoft had not done what they did in the 1980s, what would we be today? Would Apple be the ONLY choice, or would others emerge to challenge them? If not, what makes Apple any less evil than Microsoft, given if MS had not emerged when they did, Apple surely would have seized the opportunity and monopolized the PC market?

No simple solution here, but I fear that breaking up Microsoft, especially here and now that competition is actually gaining ground, would be a dreadfully bad decision. I respect your opinion though :)

Bottom line (in the form of a question): Which one is more dangerous--a really big megacorporation with too much influence or a really big mega-government with too much power?

How silly these guys are. Some of them decided it was time to start making some cracks public in order to push sales up as much as possible and speed up adoption of HDTV systems by the public, just like it happened with the CSS crack.. although the majority of people still believe in the silly myths of "teen hackers geniuses cracking the world" ... yeah, sure.
You can believe in fairy tales they promote just like believing that mod-chips for consoles like the PS2 were just a reverse engineering hack and there is no business interest involving Sony for example OR you could think twice and realize that due to these rich managers inability to understand the basics of true capitalism, they have to keep raising prices of the original and then they need to push the "piracy" button in order to sell the stuff and make some profit, obviously.. Simply because they believe to be the smartest ones around and can't play right by setting low prices on the originals to ensure that 90% of people would prefer buying the original instead of even thinking about copying... Yeah, that would be too much thinking for their "rich and smart" brains... yep!

well I'm sure DVD jon would disagree with you, he cracked DVD encryption, and then went on to crack Apple itunes DRM, then he completely reversed engineered the DRM encryption Used in Apple Ipod, but perhaps this was just fantasy as well,

the fact is, encryption will get stronger and stronger, but by making it stronger, that's improving all the would be crackers out there, and making there decryption techniques (& programs) and even better,

nothing is perfect, and to have a fully 100% secured system would more and likely mean a system than won't be switched on,

mainstream copying will take a long time, HD/Blueray burners are still in there infant stage (generation 2 drivers are not even out yet),

but this doesn't stop these big films being encoded to a high quality AVI (DivX/Xvid/x264)
and although not much good for mainstream copying, will defiantly please P2P users,

as for going after the companies having these tools, well in theory these tools are passing through thousand of ISP's connections all the time, what, should they be shut down as well,

and going after the people that create these powerful decrypters, that won't help either, the more you go after them, the more others will step up and take the place of them and the tougher the encrypters get, the more experience at understanding these processes the crackers are getting, so in effect there helping crackers get better, bit like Rat poison really, the more better these poisons get the more rats eventually adapt and the poison no longer works

the DVD business has made billions, perhaps trillions of dollars, and yet they cry about how pirating is killing the film industry, where is it killing the business, there still making film, there still making huge of profit from the interest on there gains, film industries are getting bigger all the time, actors are getting paid more money now then the whole of history,

hell the stars that were in the sitcom "Friends" were on 1 MILLION $ a episode by the end,

the fact is these greedy film companies want even more money, and even more profit for them selves, and they would have us all believe that with more money for them, that would mean more material being directed, and better entertainment for us, bullshi*, they just want more money for there fancy cars,

by the time they have sold a film through DVD sales alone, it costs them about 1.5 dollars to produce, and that's not including all the extras, and all the interest they get though there banks,

it's a bit like Microsoft screaming about piracy is hurrting there company and associates, Jesus Microsoft is one of the biggest and riches companies in the world, where the hell is piracy hurting them, no they just want more money and more power, and don't like the idea that some one is found a way (usually technical knowledge is needed mind you) to get something for free,

and as for the music industry (RIAA ect) constantly yelling out that piracy and music downloading on the internet is killing us, again where, the music industry has never been so big the entire history of man kind, there is more money in the music industry now then ever before,

the fact is, company owners want more money, more power, which equals huge more profits from there bank interest rates, which all needs to be taxed, which in turn gives even more money to governments around the world, which then they say to us that they can give us better services, like more police on the streets, better health care, and improved education, and you know what, we never get it, it's all propaganda, it's all people in a circle wanting MONEY MONEY MONEY,

i think it's funny, a multi billion dollar encryption which is government certified, yet they can't find a secure way of protecting the decryption process, and you know why, simple, in it's protected form, it can't be beat, but at it's final destination no system can be secure because if a user has access (physically) to the terminal (or in this case there player) then the system can be broke,

just like PC's, the encrypted data being broadcast over the internet can not be beat, but if a user has access to a terminal at the final destination, then a HACK, is very and most likely possible,

ROFLBTC.... At last someone who gets it.

NICELY SAID

Please learn some spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation. Trying to read your post gives me a headache. The word "there" indicates a place or direction and not possession. I'll give you an example: There goes an idiot who doesn't understand the difference between "there", "their" and "they're".

well sorry, didn't realize this was a oxford university english course,

at least i can stay on topic, and don't have to be pidantic,

this is a place to express some ones opionion about the topic, now satisfying your dying need to look for grammer corrections,

if you understood what i said, then αυτών shouldn't be a problem then,

see what i did there, i wonder if someone will now come along and give a response about (αυτών)

when clearly it's simple to work out what the word is,

i may no write good english, but my skills at greek are B+,

but i'm not sorry for not being english,

perhaps next time i'll write in my native language so no one can understand what i'm writing,

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