Media companies team to create HD-DVD content protection

A group of technology and entertainment industry giants have teamed up to create a new, flexible content protection system for the future high-definition DVDs. The technology, dubbed Advanced Access Content System (AACS) would grant the users limited rights to copying the content to, for example, a portable player or a desktop PC.

The group includes companies like IBM, Intel, Warner Bros., Disney, Microsoft, Sony and Matsushita. All the companies have developed content protection systems of their own, sometimes working together with other companies. But the AACS alliance is the first time the companies come together for a single, universal solution.

For now there is no AACS technology or even specifications to license, but the AACS Licensing Authority says it would have the technology available for licensing by the end of the year.

It is obvious that the transfers can only be made between DRM capable, non-blacklisted devices. Content providers will, of course, also be able to dictate how strict the limitations on a disc are -- you might, for instance, be able to copy a movie to a portable player, but not on your desktop PC.

Source: ZDNet

Written by: Jari Ketola @ 14 Jul 2004 12:27

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11 comments

Vular

Anything can be cracked in good time, it's been proved over and over. It will be interesting to see what the future has to bring.

14.7.2004 14:43 #1

brent1a

Yep, there are plenty of individuals out there that live for these kinds of challenges.

14.7.2004 16:07 #2

Toiletman

From watermarked and ID'ed screeners to AACS, everyone who's posted in these news threads seems so sure that people will crack this.

Tell me tell you one thing. 128 bit encryption is also crackable. It takes around 4 million years, that's all.

I'm not so sure this content protection is even bad in any way. Since the providers can dictate the limit, I'll wager they'll allow us to backup the movie and view it on a DVD player. How is that bad in any way? Unless you pirate stuff of course, which is offical wrong. I think pirated stuff is wrong too.

14.7.2004 21:17 #3

brent1a

The following is why I digress so much aboot this crud:

I'm sorry but I just don't have any trust whatsoever of the corporate world. I applaude your optimism , however, I just don't see the entertainment industry compromising in any way with us private individuals. To them there are far less private people backing up their movies & music than there are hackers selling it on the black market. Therefore, to protect themselves from actual thieves they have a right to implement whatever but us private people get hurt in the meantime.
I don't know about you but I've also seen enough propaganda thats supposed to make me, just me, feel completely responisble for Sony, MGM, Universal Vivendi and all the rest, for losing their supposed trillions of dollars.
Us vs. them. Thats how it's always going to be unless 1. Everyone becomes billionares
2. The world evolves into a Utopia.

14.7.2004 22:43 #4

Denzien

Unless they make all current DVD-Players and DVD-ROMs obsolete in favor of new ones that have built-in, unreproducable hardware decryption, this is a pointless idea.

The code itself will be cracked or filtered out one way or another. They need a hardware solution, not a software one.

And I don't see people being big on the idea of throwing away their current DVD Players just to buy the new ones.

15.7.2004 04:35 #5

mooglez

did you actually read the article? this is being done for the hd-dvd players, the next generation of players, not for the current ones. and yes, they do expect you to upgrade your player, if you want to have 720p or 1080i movies.

15.7.2004 08:39 #6

Alanj72

Well, I can't add much here, but........
Yes, it's always the little guy that gets robbed!!! When big companies need to "downsize", it's the little people who are scraping a living to get by that get whacked.
All the money spent to stop the "bad" guys from mass copying gets passed on to we little guys. So we pay more and don't even have the right ( or capability) to make our own back-up copy.
Such is life, huh?

17.7.2004 17:39 #7

velorz

Well. Here's my solution to AACS. I'm not going to use it. I don't care about HDTV and dont see that changing until plasmas are about 400 bucks. So i have about 10 years until I have to upgrade to AACS. So screw the movie industry I'll keep on copying on. And theres nothing they can do about it.

What they going to screw themselves over by trying to tell EVERYONE they have to by an AACS Dvd player? Don't think so maybe in 10 years you'll have to and by 10 years it'll be cracked.

7.12.2004 19:40 #8

kabukijo

velorz, "by 10 years it'll be cracked" !?

Let us not exaggerate. Wot velorz means is :
BY 10 IT WILL BE ABSOLUTELY-POSITIVELY-WHITOUT-A-QUESTION be C-R-A-C-K-E-D lol

5.9.2005 01:55 #9

kabukijo

by then lol

5.9.2005 01:56 #10

finetco

Whoa Whoa, Everybody!! Its called resistance! How many people here who have been using DVD's and Players have Pined away "Oh PLEASE PLEASE wil someone make a High Def player and Hig Def Disks to go with it? I will just die if they don't come out with it!

I don't think so! Everyone who is anyone! Just has not done this!! well who knows I am sure there will be someone in the minority that Will say that they just can't live without HI Def.

But for 98% of us we never even thought about it. SO DON'T LET THEM CONVINCE YOU THAT YOU DO NEED HD!

JUST RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO BUY THEM!

How long will your local electronics store carry them when after their salesman shows you and everybody else their latest HD stuff.. AND PEOPLE SAY: "I PASS" There will be a lot of units being sent back to the MFR. Marked "UN-SELLABLE". DON'T BUY INTO THEIR GAMES!

CONSUMERS HAVE POWER!!

JUST SAY NO TO HD!! THAT'S ALL IT WILL TAKE!

18.5.2007 00:05 #11

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