Boing Boing is reporting that AACS processing keys in use by both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray video discs have been extracted by hackers, and a crack released by Doom9 forum member “Arnezami”. Both new High Definition disc formats were previously broken by hacker “Muslix64″when he/she found a way to extract the disc volume key. This new crack actually bypasses the volume key step and allows full access to the encrypted content through use of the processing keys, meaning in essence that ALL AACS “protected” discs are now vulnerable.

From the article:

“For DRM to work, it has to be airtight. There can’t be a single mistake…Instead of spending billions on technologies that attack paying customers, the studios should be confronting that reality and figuring out how to make a living in a world where copying will get easier and easier. They’re like blacksmiths meeting to figure out how to protect the horseshoe racket by sabotaging railroads. The railroad is coming. The tracks have been laid right through the studio gates. It’s time to get out of the horseshoe business.”

One slashdot commenter stated;

“It puts a smile on my face knowing that a small group of unpaid media hackers are able to crack the AACS encryption scheme what tooks many developers and millions in R&D to create, in just a few short weeks.”

Ouch. That’s gotta hurt. But he’s right. Now the new hi-def discs are just as vulnerable to copying and ripping as DECSS’d standard DVDs. Back in July of 2005 I noted “historically, those determined to bypass copy protection technologies have always been able to find a way” and suggested starting a pool and betting on how long it would take to crack AACS. I wish I had taken bets…though to be honest I didn’t think it would take this long.

This is a great time to mention Cory Doctorow’s insightful treatise on DRM and Copyright, addressed to Microsoft Research back in mid-2004. (Alternate formats and language versions available here)

Update: Just got word that The Pirate Bay, a popular torrent tracker, is featured in Vanity Fair in an article entitled “Pirates of the Multiplex.” A very interesting read (perhaps a little far mainstream), and fits well in today’s DRM theme.

We’ve also previously mentioned AACS cracking efforts here and here.
(Via Slashdot)