AfterDawn: News

Blu-ray gets a new layer of copy protection

The German manufacturer X-PROTECT has announced a new layer of copy protection for use on Blu-ray Discs, meant to add extra security to the existing AACS.

X-PROTECT, known for its creation of anti-piracy-protection systems for DVDs and DVD-Rs, say the new X-PROTECT blue solution will work with both HDMV and BD-J Blu-ray Discs and will be updated regularly to stop new piracy attacks.



Blue "fulfills all Blu-ray requirements and specifications" and also works "flawlessly" with current AACS protection.

The company says the main advantages of the X-PROTECT blue "is that it can be implemented seamlessly into the current workflow and does not impact the authoring and replication process. The material stays within the normal secure environment and does not need to be sent out to any offsite facility."

This fact is very important for replicators as currently media key blocks from the AACS LA must be ordered in the pre-mastering stage. Those tools then encrypt the content using the MKBs and send a content certificate to the AACS LA which must sign and approve it. The procedure is almost more hassle than its worth.

The new system supports all Blu-ray profiles and will work on all Blu-ray players including BD-ROM drives and the PlayStation 3.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jul 2008 1:38

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• 31 comments

• dude845

  These people waste money, they just beg people to crack there encryptions.

  14.7.2008 01:42 #1

• pcaddict

  More compatibility issues.

  14.7.2008 01:49 #2

• windsong

  I honestly don't think they'll be satisfied until you have to do a retinal scan (eye or right hand..take your pick) to play your f'ing DVDs.
  
  Or perhaps they'll force customers to install an authentication chip in some other region of our bodies before we watch a movie...
  
  Almost like dropping a bar of soap in prison. Bastards.

  14.7.2008 01:52 #3

• 5fdpfan

  I couldn't agree with you more windsong. Love that line about dropping the bar of soap in prison. freaking hilarious!

  14.7.2008 02:11 #4

• 1bonehead

  Originally posted by windsong: I honestly don't think they'll be satisfied until you have to do a retinal scan (eye or right hand..take your pick) to play your f'ing DVDs.
  
  Or perhaps they'll force customers to install an authentication chip in some other region of our bodies before we watch a movie...
  
  Quote:Almost like dropping a bar of soap in prison. Bastards.
  
  ROFLMAO !!!! Excellent !!!!
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  14.7.2008 02:22 #5

• Pop_Smith

  Compatibility problems are bound to happen, meaning even more firmware updating is going to be needed to play new discs with this "encryption".
  
  I wonder how long its gonna take Slysoft to get it out of the way. :P

  14.7.2008 02:23 #6

• rtm27

  Slysoft....Fentango....we'll just have to wait to see how long it takes them to crack it. And the battle rages on.

  14.7.2008 07:52 #7

• snardos

  Has anyone noticed that the more they try to stop piracy, the more piracy there is.
  
  Back when all we had was vhs and cassette tapes we never bothered to make copies and all it took was two vcrs and a blank tape. We even had high speed dubbing for cassettes.

  14.7.2008 10:00 #8

• westbrom

  they have made larger gb discs just for all this protection and not for the quality and special features, ill stick to dvd when if you buy blueray your just paying extra for protections

  14.7.2008 10:34 #9

• BludRayne

  The more they try, the more they keep Slysoft in business!

  14.7.2008 12:05 #10

• SDF_GR

  I see it more like a reason X-PROTECT to make up some money and get free advertise.
  BD and everything that has to do with locking it, is hot this period and news will travel fast.
  Even the "prisoner" that windsong talked about(lol) knows that eventually this will crack too.

  14.7.2008 12:40 #11

• sgriesch

  Originally posted by rtm27: Slysoft....Fentango....we'll just have to wait to see how long it takes them to crack it. And the battle rages on.
  Should we time this in days or in hours?

  14.7.2008 12:51 #12

• 7thsinger

  Quote:Almost like dropping a bar of soap in prison. BastardsI see Windsong has been to the clink before. XD
  
  Just kidding.
  
  That's funny stuff right there.
  
  This will just get cracked, like everything that's been tossed around before.
  
  
  

  
  
  Learn To Backup DVDs Here
  And Here.

  14.7.2008 12:55 #13

• tripplite

  Quote:I wonder how long its gonna take Slysoft to get it out of the way. :P
  
  im gonna say 15 minutes???
  
  blu ray its self is currently the greatest means of encryption, only a few have blur ray players and then even fewer have blu ray drives in there computers......but those numbers are changing no???

  14.7.2008 13:45 #14

• ikari

  Originally posted by dude845: These people waste money, they just beg people to crack there encryptions.I have an idea. Now hear me out on this one.
  
  Why don't we all go into the encryption business. We can make a lot of money on a product companies will pay millions for that we know won't last that long.
  
  The tighter they squeeze, the more sand slips between their fingers.
  
  Quote:im gonna say 15 minutes??? Tripplite, be nice now. These guys/gals worked hard on their encryption. Say 30 minutes, that way the encryption company can feel good that they ruined some person's lunch instead of their break, cracking this encryption. :-)

  14.7.2008 15:03 #15

• blueroad

  hmm well i know its a bit off topic but if im not mistaken no one has been able to hack into the PS3 and unless it wasnt sony that created the encryptions for it they did pretty good job..and again if it is indeed sony then they are more stupid then i thought..they think they are the $h*t now so they should just delegate and spend millions and others who dont do a good job to protect their precious BD instead of doing what they seem to do best..might as well send a blind man to buy paint for their offices..

  14.7.2008 16:15 #16

• JaguarGod

  Quote:...and will be updated regularly to stop new piracy attacks.I'm suing if they force me to connect my BD player to the internet to get some PoS updates to their content corruption. I shouldn't be forced to do anything I do not want to do with the players that I own... The whole reason I buy movies to watch at home is to have some sort of freedom. I wonder if we have the right to demand to buy movies without any corruption... With DVDs, all the structure corruption causes DVD players to works harder in order to read the discs and it puts unnecessary wear on the laser. It leads to players breaking down several years sooner than they should. X=Protect does the same.

  15.7.2008 15:00 #17

• blueroad

  Quote:Quote:...and will be updated regularly to stop new piracy attacks.I'm suing if they force me to connect my BD player to the internet to get some PoS updates to their content corruption. I shouldn't be forced to do anything I do not want to do with the players that I own... The whole reason I buy movies to watch at home is to have some sort of freedom. I wonder if we have the right to demand to buy movies without any corruption... With DVDs, all the structure corruption causes DVD players to works harder in order to read the discs and it puts unnecessary wear on the laser. It leads to players breaking down several years sooner than they should. X=Protect does the same.theyll probably do something with the discs in the end to make you update..mark my words

  17.7.2008 04:44 #18

• FredBun

  I say it will take no longer than 2 weeks for slysoft to crack it.

  17.7.2008 21:19 #19

• L-Burna

  Originally posted by blueroad: hmm well i know its a bit off topic but if im not mistaken no one has been able to hack into the PS3 and unless it wasnt sony that created the encryptions for it they did pretty good job..and again if it is indeed sony then they are more stupid then i thought..they think they are the $h*t now so they should just delegate and spend millions and others who dont do a good job to protect their precious BD instead of doing what they seem to do best..might as well send a blind man to buy paint for their offices..To be honest the PS3 encryption is completely different from movies.A PS3 game is almost like a PC game in a way if you think about it.The game installs on the harddrive and reads certain sectors off the disc.When it comes to movies the protection is contained on the disc,and I have yet to find a movie that installs on a harddrive and reads certain sectors off the disc.All encryption gets hacked in due time plus its not just the media that is a problem with the PS3 but the harddrive encryption as well.
  

  
  
  
  ...........................:SiG cReAtEd By Phantom69:............................

  17.7.2008 22:59 #20

• Nezello

  You know how you stop Slysoft? YOU BUY THEM AND HIRE THEIR EMPLOYEES... Watch and see
  
  snardos, I agree the more they bring attention to it the more they get of it. Except its way easier to make copies today, I'm not sure why back in the day copies were not so popular. Perhaps it took a little more effort to use your brain...
  
  What is really really scary is, today people can make illegal copies but they could not actually make change for a dollar to save their life...

  18.7.2008 07:23 #21

• FredBun

  You know I thought about that same scenario, why, cause its so true, the hackers and crackers are always far ahead, the best security people are and always have been x crooks.
  
  You say to yourself no not our slysoft people they wont turn, but ask your self, how much money are those drm, riaa or whatever they call themselves are spending, no where near if they were to hire all slysoft employees, double and even triple thier salaries and worse of all buy the company out, that all put together would still be a fraction on what those numbsculls are spending now.
  
  If someone was to offer to triple your salary, what would you do?

  18.7.2008 15:39 #22

• ThePastor

  You'd think they would have learned already. I mean, Vista is a DRM nighmare and as such I wouldn't install it if someone gave it to me.
  I feel the same way with Blueray. If they feel they need to protect their crap like this then fine. Go ahead. But I won't be investing.
  
  I find it morally objectionable to have to PAY to be RESTRICTED.

  18.7.2008 16:06 #23

• FredBun

  pastor, AMEN

  18.7.2008 16:11 #24

• JaguarGod

  @blueroad,
  
  They can't do that. I don't have cable or satellite and there is no guarantee I will renew my DSL. If the DSL goes, so does the phone service, so there is no way for me to get the updates. If they include it on the disc like the PS3, and they force you to install it, then they are selling you something illegally. Isn't that how Microsoft got screwed? You are only buying the movie, not their corruption or software "upgrade".
  
  You have the right to not install any type of software that is included on any disc. If it installs without your permission, then you have grounds for a lawsuit. It's the same as if a doctor comes into your house and installs a pacemaker in your body when there is no need for one.
  
  I don't even see what they are protecting themselves from. All these movies are already being pirated, but do you see people making a rush downloading every Blu Ray movie released? If the movie is good, people will rather buy it. They should spend more money on making movies better and leave the "protection" as it is. AACS has not been cracked, but hackers are finding ways around it. They will do the same to just about anything else that is implemented.
  
  The only one that will work is using a copy protection that uses patterns of light to make people forget what they just saw. A sort of hypnosis. The only problem is that there is a chance that once someone watches a movie, they will forget that they just saw it and then watch it again and this vicious cycle will repeat itself until the person dies.

  18.7.2008 19:09 #25

• lackyno

  Quote:Almost like dropping a bar of soap in prison. Bastards. Hahaha...the cracks will keep appearing, both in the copy protection world and in prison.
  
  Quote:The only one that will work is using a copy protection that uses patterns of light to make people forget what they just saw. A sort of hypnosis. The only problem is that there is a chance that once someone watches a movie, they will forget that they just saw it and then watch it again and this vicious cycle will repeat itself until the person dies.
  Can you imagine "one life, one movie"? That's like "50 First Dates" times 10!
  

  It's better to die than to live without hope...
  
  Life is about making mistakes and paying for them...

  18.7.2008 23:24 #26

• bykaholic

  The Movie Moguls should concentrate on a better level of movie for entertainment. The last batch of movies to come out aren't even worth paying to copy protect if no one is going to buy/watch. As far as Blu-Ray goes putting it in a game was something the Trojans did with the Horse a long time ago.
  
  Maybe there should be a contest to see who can write the code, that can encode itself, so not to be able to be decoded, then have another contest to see if a signal with the code sent out into space to see if anything alien responds to the solution of the code. Then we can ask them what's considered Fair Use in their society.
  
  X-Protect is a good name for toilet paper.
  
  If anyone goes for this format after reading what they are trying to do to kill it themselves, deserves the code Herpes they will eventually end up with.
  
  To the VHS guy, you never heard of Macrovision and the cure (Digital Stabilizers)?????????????

  19.7.2008 04:37 #27

• Migraine_

  Originally posted by westbrom: they have made larger gb discs just for all this protection and not for the quality and special features, ill stick to dvd when if you buy blueray your just paying extra for protectionsI agree 100% I have no plans to buy Blue Ray and pay 30$ a movie then have to get a firmware update for every new movie I get.
  
  I have a upconverting DVD player NOT BD quality but good enough for me! Sony One the HD format war and they can Keep there BD Disks and all there copy protection crap and stick it up there _SS!

  19.7.2008 11:35 #28

• vudoo

  Slysoft will Crack the protection as Soon as its created. If not Slysoft then Tunetite will have a solution where it plays the Blue Ray movie while re digitizing it to an AVI file. then you just use ConvertXtoDvD to make it into a DvD.
  
  There are studies done where there was an up scaling DvD player put side by side with a Blue Ray disc player. Many if not all the video critics could NOT determine rather the movie was indeed being played off the Blue Ray Disc, or the up scaling DvD player. To make matters worse some movies that were re mastered for Blue Ray actually looked Better on the up scaling DvD player. Moral of the story is to save the money, buy an up scaling DvD player or recorder since most of the content you'll be buying for your Blue Ray disc player is simply just an up scaling Master of the 480p original or in some cases the 350 lines of resolution in older movies like The Titanic or Top Gun. Don 't be fooled many Hollywood studies are still taking shots at the old spec before HD came out. therefore in my opinion Blue Ray is indeed a huge scam unleased to the public and many people just buy it because its the newest gadget on the market. Wait for HD Downloads to come out instead.

  19.7.2008 12:40 #29

• FredBun

  I agree with vudoo 100%, I have been telling many people about this, most people that already own BD dvd players will argue to the death with this subject cause they have to defend the big bucks they so stupitly spent, and the others like you guys said that just have to have it cause its new, those are the stupitiest ones of all.
  
  I am no techie nor are any of my close friends, but what I do have is commen sense, I had bought a new player less than a year ago not even knowing it already had the upconverting thingy in it, about a month ago we bought our kids the ps3 of course you can play blueray movies on it, by the way I hate that damn ps3 its so damn complicated you need to do updating etc. even my kids have problems with it, 500 bucks out the window the way I see it, anyway, I watched spiderman3 blueray, it came with the package, I also have my own reg. spiderman3, I said to myself, what the hell!!!! whats the big deal!!!.
  
  I invided both my nieghbor buddies, we watch tv often together, especially football season, I have a 40"lcd, I didnt let them know which player was on, both could not tell the difference, I also took the ps3 to both thier homes, and yes both have players that have the upconverting in it, one has a 40", and the other has a 46", same difference lol, that really stuck it to the bluray gege hole, so much for the even thinking about buying, renting, bluray dvd's or equipment.
  
  I will say this cause I do tell it like it is, the tv's that are 50in. and above, I did see a little difference, thats were the blurays shine, slightly, but do, but not with all that extra expense they want us to go, this is in no way like some people say its a difference like vhs to dvd, sorry (I got to have everything new geeks) your thoughts are a wash out on this one.
  
  I already have a nice size standard dvd library, and from what bluray has shown me, its gonna stay that way.

  20.7.2008 10:04 #30

• JaguarGod

  Blu Ray picture quality shows when you have a top end TV. I have a Sammy LCD (forget the model off the top of my head, but it was the one that competed with the XBR5), and you can tell the difference in pic quality. I even did tests using a DVR where I was changing the resolution on the box and the difference was very noticeable. However, because it is noticeable, does not make it "WOW!!! Oh yeah... Ooh yeah... That's it baby..." It's just better. That's it.
  
  Oh and HD DVD is exactly the same quality except it was 1/5 the price. If anyone can find an HD DVD player, I would recommend that over Blu Ray any day even though they are finished making movies on it. For $80 you get an awesome DVD player and you can play HD movies. The player even comes with 2 movies and the movies are cheaper than DVDs. Think of it as buying another DVD player and the cost will be justified. My HD DVD collection is larger than my BD collection, and I've had the BD players for about 1 year longer.

  23.7.2008 22:32 #31