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AACS: A Lesson in Futility
Posted May 2, 2007 09:48 AM by Josh Dreuth
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The latest chapter in the fight against piracy is making its way into news headlines today, with the unofficial confirmation that a processing key for HD DVD titles (and possibly Blu-ray titles) was leaked onto the web. I say "unofficial" because while AACS has not confirmed its existence, or the amount of damage it will undoubtedly cause, they are not hesitating to issue cease and desist orders to every website and blog that posts the mysterious code. If their reaction is to be a judge of the impact, this is going to be a huge problem for movie studios.
The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is the one of the three anti-piracy tools available to Blu-ray studios in order to protect their intellectual property from being freely distributed against their will. Thus far, it has proven to be as effective as a screen door on a submarine. The first Title Key was discovered on the web in January, and it took them three months to address the issue - not exactly the definition of a prompt response. The problem was a memory leak in a popular PC software player which left the Title Keys (codes unique to each movie) readable with a memory dump. The April fix rejected those codes and required the software players to fix the leak.
More recently, an Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on was modified to allow the computer to bypass the AACS system to some degree, paving the way for future applications which could potentially bypass the system completely, meaning any key change would have zero effect on the drive's ability to read and copy media.
Now, a processing key has been inadvertently leaked to the web (some say by AACS themselves), making all HD DVD discs wide-open for copying. Whether you're for or against Digital Rights Management (DRM) is inconsequential; the effects of piracy are felt by all. When AACS was first cracked, Universal (HD DVD) and Fox (Blu-ray) pulled their releases off the table and waited for a fix. That means less titles released, and no matter how you spin it, that is bad news for consumers.
Universal's reaction to this news is yet to be seen, but they surely can't be happy. Fox has taken a more proactive stance by speeding up the development of an anti-piracy technology they helped get added into the Blu-ray spec: BD Plus (BD+). The current rumors circulating are that Fox is waiting for testing to be completed for BD+ before releasing any titles using the new technology (which should be sometime in June).
The worst aspect of this entire situation has to be the actions taken by AACS themselves. The key was posted, and then numerous hacker sites posted the key to spread the word. While it was available, it was contained to that relatively small group of individuals. Then AACS started issuing cease and desist orders, and that is when mainstream media caught on. Now, the code is everywhere - even on t-shirts - and it has become impossible to stop the virus. How one organization can be so sloppy is beyond me, but one thing is sure: AACS has failed.
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Source: Blu-ray.com |
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Iceman_II
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May 02, 2007
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Originally I posted "As long as the the price of blank media is high enough, it becomes economically unfeasable to pirate the movies.... if it is cheaper to buy the movie than it is to burn one (and risk frying the occasional disk in failed attempts) people won't pirate, they will buy."
But then I got to thinking about people ripping the movies, and transcoding them, but the system will not let me delete my original comment. |
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quexos
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May 03, 2007
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On the issue of piracy, I tend to disagree with the above article. I believe there has to be a balance. Granted that too much piracy would yield a negative effect for all. But what would happen if there was NO piracy at all ?
well, let us examine that theory: In two years time a High Def winner emerges, beating the other format, on top of that, thanks to some magic potion, piracy has completely vanished from the surface of earth. So the winner (a name is irrelevant to the point i want to make), is the sole system being sold without a single copy of any movie on the internet for free download so what happens ? the winner begin rising prices of the sold movies at first they sell for 30 dollars but later they move up to 40, then 50 and even 60 ... why not, who's gonna do something about it ? you don't like it, then close your eyes and imagine you are watching HD cause that's all you will get if you don't pay for it. after that its the big screen releases who today thanks to piracy are more often than not, released only few days in Europe after they are in North America. But now that free digital copies are not on the internet anymore (in this brave new piracy free future world), why release them so close to the dates in America ? let them be released 6 month later, a year later, two years later ... you don't like it ? buy an airline ticket to the US and go into a movie theater in New-York or something cause this brave new world has no other options for you. And don't you think of buying a legal digital movie while you shop in the Big Apple before you return home because due to region coding you won't be able to see it even if you paid for it. Without cracking codes on the net, you paid to make big companies richer and not only you cannot see that movie at home but also there is no legal action to defend the consumer that you are.
Back to reality. Like I said, too much piracy would indeed be bad for all, the question is, would NO piracy be good for the consumer ? ...
Beyond that issue, I hope that Blu-ray will be the winner because of its greater space per disc. I don't want to spend an entire new generation with the worst format. |
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HDJK
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May 03, 2007
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@quexos. I can't say that I agree with you. Everybody is in it to make money. So, let's say there is
only one format: there are more than 10 Major Film studios and as many big CE manufacturers. If it
becomes too expensive, people don't buy it. They turn to the competition. If Sony can sell 100000k
copies of James Bond 25 for a list price of 39USD and FOX sells only 20000k copies of X-Men 7
because it costs 60USD, what do you think will happen? Will Sony charge more? Will FOX charge
less? Optical discs are not meant as a luxury good like fancy watches. They are meant to sell in large
numbers.
Piracy doesn't help anyone. The methods to avoid it are annoying for the paying customer and a
challange for the pirate. They are no Robin Hoods. |
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JTK
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May 03, 2007
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I hope it's just another blow to HD-DVD so we can end this foolishness ASAP. If neutral studios or even Universal really start getting the idea that their content is "*** out in the breeze" so to speak, then BD+ and the other secure features of this superior format become that much more appealing, regardless of whether some folks have an irrational hate of Sony or not.
It's an unmistakeable message: AACS has failed and there's obvious ramfications thereof.
The other piece of big news that came out a few days ago was Sony having found a way to seriously ramp up production of blue diodes much sooner and faster than anyone thought. This means prices dropping on Blu-Ray related hardware and PS3's much sooner rather than later which is another deathblow to an HD-DVD FUD talking point about "being cheaper" and "attach rates" and the rest of it.
I really don't know what more people and certain studios need to see at this rate. I'll be looking for this Christmas season to finish it all off for Blu-Ray once and for all. |
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