Copyleft: the magazine

While this news is sure to anger the AACS governing body to no end, SlySoft has launched a new version of AnyDVD, its optical disk copying tool designed to get around those pesky DRM features on HD DVDs and Blu-Ray disks. According to the change notes on SlySoft’s forums, version 6.1.5.1 supports ripping of “new titles”, ostensibly those that will be hitting retailers near you in the coming weeks with a new security keys. So, yeah, that whole emergency security update worked really well, AACS Licensing Authority. Looks like the general public will continue to disagree with your interpretation of its rights to copy and back up the media it has purchased.

(from Engadget and SlySoft Forums)

Digg, well known for its highly opinionated, community-based social booking marking services, took a major hit to its credibility this week after the company began systematically deleting articles with a certain code used for cracking AACS encryption on HD DVD and Blu-ray disks. Within hours of making its fateful decision (after receiving a cease and desist letter from the AACS licensing group), diggers began revolting against their favorite site by digging EVERY PAGE with the offending code they could find. After 24 hours, founder and cheif Digg architect Kevin Ross called off the censorship campaign and vowed to stand by his community come hell or major corporate lawsuit.

(more…)

In a move that should surprise no one at this point, the kids over at the Doom9 forums have sent out and new set of apps to crack the AACS digital rights management system. This most recent crack in HD DVD and Blu-ray’s armor is thanks to an exploit using the XBox 360’s HD DVD external drive, which allowed these intrepid hackers to get the Volume IDs of their high definition disks without using the pesky host keys. In short, that means getting around the AACS encryption just in time for all the old host keys to be canceled thanks to the last major crack. More as this story develops, but for all of you making back-ups of your HD movies, looks like you’ll still have the capability for a while.

For a little background on AACS, check out our info page on [[DRM]].

(from DLTV and Doom9)