AACS Cracked Again 306
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."
Ouch (Score:5, Interesting)
I were one of the cracking groups... (Score:4, Interesting)
Then I'd start releasing the cracks, starting with some of the simpler ones, only releasing another when they patch the exploit I released, resulting in an ongoing sense of futility as every time they fix the holes, I point out another.
Best exploit I think? Stealing or cracking the key to every code created for the discs. That way they'd have to throw the whole system out in order to achieve 'security' again. No current players would work. While a massive beowolf cluster cracking the whole thing would be neat and worthy of the NSA, I think that's unlikely. More possible but still pretty much 'mission impossible' would be a physical theft. If only the DVD Security Group protected those keys like government officials protect our information*...
hm...
*Yes, I'm still a bit irked about having my info stolen at least three times
Freudian Slip (Score:4, Interesting)
"I can't wait until they realize that it's not worth it, and just stop concerning themselves with creating good movies, and instead focus full-time on copy-protecting their media."
Z.
Re:I LOVE this! (Score:5, Interesting)
Fine by me. (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:this is what we needed (Score:5, Interesting)
if you reduced the cost so that a box set costs 40 dollars using the same numbers you end up with 2 million. This gives you less profit right? Well if people are more willing to buy a dvd at 40 dollars and you get 150 000 dvd sales you end up with a final profit of 3.75 3 million dollars. Your making more money. I know nothing and I'm bored so don't take me too cereal. I know people will still pirate dvds but people will always pirate dvds, you won't stop them. Use the money that your putting into research to reduce the cost of the product and sell it and I bet you will have less people pirating or at least buying a legit copy after pirating or before making a backup. I know I would.
I find it bad form that I've paid 8*45+20(best of volume was cheaper) for my south park dvd collection. Thats almost 400 dollars. come to think of it that seems insane, and thats not my only collection. Most people can't aford that and I can see why they pirate or make backups. Would you want to go out and spend that again if your DVD got wrecked by a scratch?
Defective By Design (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft and Toshiba screwed this up on purpose to undermine the AACS. Defective by Design, sure, but this is probably one of the few times that it ROCKS.
NO DRM = more ads ? (Score:3, Interesting)
Might even make sence for them to produce two versions of the movies:
of course pirates would still try and rip the add free discs, and or remove the ads from the free version, but it might remove the incentive for many people to pirate the non free disks. I mean, most still watch tv with ads, instead of tivo-ing it and skipping the commercials or downloading it without commercials, right?
Re:I wonder (Score:3, Interesting)
They don't care if it gets cracked. They only care how difficult it is to keep up with the crack-patch cycle. Their goal is to make it difficult or risky for John Q. Everyman to copy movies and music.
They have to know that all their security measures will be broken. They can win by attrition.
Re:One word. (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Fine by me. (Score:2, Interesting)
The conventional wisdom is that Hollywood sucks and anything would be better. I think what gets lost is that making a decent movie is tremendously difficult. It requires a lot of highly skilled and experienced people. Making a great movie takes that same stuff, only more, plus a lot of luck.
Hollywood movies, for all their flaws, usually get most of the . . . technical stuff right. That's a huge plus.
Beyond that "the Hollywood machine" does a vast amount of work vetting material. I'm sure some profound art is lost in this process, but it really does keep the self-indulgent pap to a minimum.
The indie approach is everyone and their dog makes a movie, and the cream rises to the top. The Hollywood system aims to never shoot the crud [wikipedia.org], and just shoot the 10% that might be worthwhile. I think that this creates a (comparatively high) floor on the quality of Hollywood movies, but does lower the ceiling on just how good they can be a bit.
That's why "all the really good ideas come from outsiders".
-Peter