HDCP 'master key' supposedly released, unlocks HDTV copy protection

[vanx]

Just as the MPAA is preparing to offer movies to customers at home while they're still in theaters by limiting playback to DRM-protected digital outputs only, the HDCP protocol they rely on may have been cracked wide open. All devices that support HDCP, like Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and displays with HDMI inputs, have their own set of keys to encrypt and decrypt protected data and if keys for a particular device are compromised, they can be revoked by content released in the future which will then refuse to play. Now, posts have been floating around on Twitter about a supposed "master key" which renders that protection unusable since it allows anyone to create their own source and sink keys.

Who discovered this and by what technique isn't immediately clear, but as early as 2001 security researcher Niels Ferguson proposed that it could be easily revealed by knowing the keys of less than 50 different devices. Hardware HDCP rippers like the HDfury2 and DVIMAGIC have been around for a while and various AACS cracks easily allow rips of Blu-ray discs but if this information is what it claims to be, then the DRM genie could be permanently out of the bag allowing perfect high definition copies of anything as long as the current connector standards are around. While it's unlikely your average user would flash their capture device with a brand new key and get to copying uncompressed HD audio and video, keeping those early releases off of the torrents in bit perfect quality could go from difficult to impossible.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/14/hdcp-master-key-supposedly-released-unlocks-hdtv-copy-protect/

[primexx]

ah the futile attempts of pathetic greedbags at preserving their dead business paradigm

[HawkMan]

ah the futile attempts of pathetic greedbags at preserving their dead business paradigm

You mean getting paid for the entertainment you're watching ?

yeah damn them for wanting to be paid for their work ;)

[Richard Hammond]

HDCP has nothing to do with not being paid, they just dont want you to be able to record HD video from any source so that you HAVE to pay to rent or buy the film instead of recording it from TV.

[HawkMan]

HDCP has nothing to do with not being paid, they just dont want you to be able to record HD video from any source so that you HAVE to pay to rent or buy the film instead of recording it from TV.

YEs they want to stop you from recording to stop full quality rips to appear on the net, even though that never worked. I wasn't even aware they where allowed to enforce the HDCP flag yet, I thought that was a year of or so still.

[7Dash8]

ah the futile attempts of pathetic greedbags at preserving their dead business paradigm

I'm pretty sure you're speaking about pirates here... Keywords 'pathetic', 'greedy' and 'dead business paradigm' (i.e. getting stuff for free = death of business).

[+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹]

DRM always fails. I don't know why they still bother.

[George P Global Moderator]

I understand the media creators wanting to protect their stuff so they can make money off of it, but trying to restrict things more and more isn't the way. New business models like netflix etc are the way to go really. Of course, another way for them to stey ahead is to just keep moving to the next new thing, now that HD has been cracked left and right they might as well try some new tech with new protection and hope that holds up for a few years as well.

[Gutierrez]

hmm... I have to see this if this really work first.

[MillionVoltss]

The key must of been leaked, its simply too big to be cracked.

[Richteralan]

You mean getting paid for the entertainment you're watching ?

yeah damn them for wanting to be paid for their work ;)

yeah like the artists get paid by record labels a lot.... ;)

[HawkMan]

yeah like the artists get paid by record labels a lot.... ;)

yeah so let's screw them out of what little they do get. also unlike popular myth, all the money the record companies take don't go right in the CEO's pockets. it goes into marketing, production studio, salaries all across the line, paying off the radio's.

and we're also talking movies here, last I checked actors didn't actually get small crumbs.

[TheBlueRaja]

yeah so let's screw them out of what little they do get. also unlike popular myth, all the money the record companies take don't go right in the CEO's pockets. it goes into marketing, production studio, salaries all across the line, paying off the radio's.

and we're also talking movies here, last I checked actors didn't actually get small crumbs.

Now ask me if i care...

[HawkMan]

Now ask me if i care...

I guess you wouldn't care if your boss came to you one day and said "yeah, we don't want to pay you for today" either :)

[Blackhearted]

yeah so let's screw them out of what little they do get. also unlike popular myth, all the money the record companies take don't go right in the CEO's pockets. it goes into marketing, production studio, salaries all across the line, paying off the radio's.

And yet that's still everywhere BUT to the artist. So the guy you quoted still isn't wrong about the music side of things.

[HawkMan]

And yet that's still everywhere BUT to the artist. So the guy you quoted still isn't wrong about the music side of things.

yes, and the artist could do all that himself, and sell a total of at best 1% of what the studio and publisher helps him do and he'd be left with far less money, since he'd still have to fork out a ******** of money to try and do all that himself.

[Webworldx]

DRM always fails. I don't know why they still bother.

If someone breaks into your house, you repair the window and perhaps reinforce the locks. If it happens again you get a gate and fence... do you give up if it happens a third time?

I personally think DRM is penalising those who've genuinely bought products and want to support film, but if you don't make an effort, you can't complain or criticize.

[Richteralan]

yes, and the artist could do all that himself, and sell a total of at best 1% of what the studio and publisher helps him do and he'd be left with far less money, since he'd still have to fork out a ******** of money to try and do all that himself.

lol

so you are basically telling independent artists go f*** themselves if they don't want to work with "big brothers"?

are you working with record labels? I guess so!

[HawkMan]

lol

so you are basically telling independent artists go f*** themselves if they don't want to work with "big brothers"?

are you working with record labels? I guess so!

yeah, obviously I work with the record labels :rolleyes: because obviously anyone who don't agree with your skewed world view works for "the man"

and yeah, there's a reason independent artists are independent, 99.99% of the time fairly poor, don't sell very well and only have a small cult following. of course as soon as they join a label to sell big, they're sell out and you can no longer listen to them amirite.

[Richteralan]

yeah, obviously I work with the record labels :rolleyes: because obviously anyone who don't agree with your skewed world view works for "the man"

and yeah, there's a reason independent artists are independent, 99.99% of the time fairly poor, don't sell very well and only have a small cult following. of course as soon as they join a label to sell big, they're sell out and you can no longer listen to them amirite.

of course you are right....:D

so let's just join the crowd! simple and easy! doesn't require thinking, too! :cool:

back to topic...let's wait and see how this master key work out tho. :shiftyninja:

[HawkMan]

of course you are right....:D

so let's just join the crowd! simple and easy! doesn't require thinking, too! :cool:

back to topic...let's wait and see how this master key work out tho. :shiftyninja:

WTF does that have to do with pirating or not ?

And the only people this benefits are the ones who're stuck with really old TV sets without HDCP or monitors without HDCP and a PS3 since that apparently enforces the HDCP flag, despite that not supposed to be active till 2013 or something. Of course it doesn't actually help them either without buying a HDCP removal dongle that uses this, since they don't have the HDCP hardware to insert their own custom key into anyway.