Copy protection hole in Blu-ray and HD DVD movies

[Kellanved]

The Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD are new data carriers for high-resolution motion pictures. For fear of piracy, Hollywood had the developers install a cornucopia of copy prevention mechanisms on them. For instance, the film data on the disks are protected by means of the Advanced Access Content System (AACS). Digital output only reaches the monitor via connections encrypted by means of High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). This copy protection chain is designed to ensure that no unencrypted data can be grabbed.

But this security chain has a giant hole. Computer magazine c't has discovered that the first software players running on Windows XP allow screenshots of the movies to be created in full resolution. To do so, you only need to press the Print key on your keyboard while the movie is running. Such a screenshot function could then be automated to produce copies of HD movies both from Blu-ray Discs and from HD DVDs picture by picture. As c't calculated, the performance of current PC systems is sufficient for a clean recording using this procedure. Once a pirate has all of the individual pictures, they can be put together to create a complete movie and mixed with the audio track that is grabbed separately.

...
According to Toshiba, however, the original WinDVD version does not violate the security stipulations in the AACS LA. Toshiba therefore does not expect the first WinDVD version to be blocked by an update of the AACS key. By switching the keys, which would be necessary for new HD DVD movies, the AACS LA could force users to update their software, thus closing the copy protection hole.

http://www.heise-security.co.uk/news/75103


Lobbying for orwellian copy protection - millions
Getting it protected by law - tens of muillions
Forgetting about screenshots - priceless.

:rofl:

[Deja Q]

1. 2 things

1. At 30FPS, and the resolution of each image (which is going to be greater than 720x480, I'd say easy 2x the amount of pixels), the amount of space required is astronomical - so is the time to make the file... No pirate ware would be viable anytime soon... and given the content of modern day movies that would be the first out, who's going to want to buy it???

2. The article is violating the DMCA. Watch as they get put out of business. Who needs freedom of speech when freedom of fascists is more fun?