New Corel DRM effort
p2pnet.net news:- In one corner are 21st century explorers, call them hackers, and in the other, corporations which make applications meant to stop you from playing the next-generation DVDs you bought in good faith any way you want.
It’s called DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) consumer control.
Corel Software customers will now have to download a new version of its InterVideo WinDVD software if they want to be able to watch their HD DVD or Blu-ray discs on PCs, says CNET News, going on:
“The move has been anticipated since December, when a hacker accessed the device key used to communicate with the security keys on each movie disc. By compromising the key, the hacker could have made and circulated unauthorized copies of movies. The Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator, the group backing the AACS copy-protection format used by both Blu-ray and HD DVD, also announced that it was doing away with the compromised keys.
“The creators of AACS, which includes IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Panasonic, anticipated that their security keys might be hacked. To stay a step ahead of the hackers, they designed a system that allowed them to swap out compromised keys.”
The move became necessary following work by Doom9’s muslix64 who beat Blu-ray and HD DVD DRM.
He got all the attention but, “I don’t think I’m the first who did it,” he said. “There are probably a lot of people who did that before me, but they keep it secret. I was disappointed to realize, that BD+ (the other security layer of Blu-ray) was not there yet. It would have been a great challenge! AACS was not a challenge at all…
“I’m not the smart guy around; they are just careless about security.”
Hollywoood’s response, “will doubtless be put under the microscope by hackers continuing a cat-and-mouse game between content crackers and the entertainment industry that saddles consumers with the headache of applying patches in defence of DRM technology that’s at best unwanted and, at worst, a system resource hog that introduces security risks all of its own,” observes The Register.
Not to worry, though, because in what might be construed as fighting talk, “We have tremendous confidence in the AACS system and our products’ upgraded security,” CNET has Corel spokeswoman Catherine Hughes declaring, adding:
“Our recommendation is for anyone using HD DVD or Blu-ray disc playback to download the update in order to ensure that both their existing titles and newly purchased titles will continue to play. If someone inserts an HD or Blu-ray disc with the new licensing keys, it will result in HD/BD playback of previous titles being disabled until (users) install the free update.”
How long before the upgraded security is downgraded? No bets.
Definitely stay tuned.
Also See:
CNET News – Analyst: Corel’s DRM patch only a bandage, April 10, 2007
Doom9’s muslix64 – AACS confirms AACS hacked, January 26, 2007
The Register – Cracked HD-DVD and Blu-Ray app keys revoked, April 10, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the endSurvey: How Did Copyright Infringement Become Equated with Robbery? (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
April 11th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Let’s make it even more difficult for paying customers to watch the video, as compared with sharers.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I find the corporate DRM campaign entirely facetious. They are punishing their ‘paying’ customers in order to deter ripping/sharing. That’s a great way to lose business.
Self destruction must be the corporate mandate.