Blu-ray's DRM Cracked

"The copy protection technology used by Blu-ray discs has been cracked by the same hacker who broke the DRM technology of rival HD DVD discs last month. The coder known as muslix64 used much the same plain text attack in both cases. By reading a key held in memory by a player playing a HD DVD disc he was able to decrypt the movie been played and render it as an MPEG 2 file."
-www.theregister.co.uk

Shocked? Not really, but this doesn't mean anyone can do it. The hacker posted a tool to help crack the DRM, but every disc is different, and you have to crack each disc's unique key. Apparently this new DRM on high definition discs is going to be a much bigger problem than the MP3 DRM, and I don't see the rival companies (Blu-ray and HD DVD) ever giving up on their anti-piracy software. Perhaps, because pirating films is a bit less common that pirating music and people aren't going to be making a big stink about it. The only question now is, which company will win the battle, if any will win at all. It's one thing to crossover from VHS to DVD, but its another to crossover from DVD to a higher quality DVD. I haven't seen Blu-ray or HD DVD in action, yet, but it's got to be a drastic difference for it to be widespread. My opinion? Wait for these companies to fight it out, until one dominates. Then I'll worry about the DRM.
In other news, Apple has committed to join the Blu-ray Association, and opted to hold a seat on the main board. Which means the DRM will sure as hell never get lifted from the discs anytime soon. This union will surely make HD DVD the underdog contender, even while having the much more sensible name. Anyway, the DRM situation is going to be a difficult battle to win in this case. It's going to be a difficult task to get people to rally against it. Only time will tell, I suppose.

iTunes' DRM Illegal Somewhere!

"Following the Norwegian consumer ombudsman's ruling last week that Apple iTune's lack of inter operability with devices other than its own iPod is illegal, Germany's federal consumer protection association, the VZBV, and the Dutch consumer protection agency, along with Finland and France, have joined a continent-wide move to get Apple to change its coding restrictions."
-MSNBC

You know, I hate to say it. I really do, because I love Apple. I have a PowerMac. I have an iPod. How is it that one company can be so technologically progressive, and still concern themselves with dying DRM. Enough is enough. Even EMI has begun to release MP3s as opposed to the DRM encrypted file. Listen, Apple does kind of have a point. Let the consumers decide. You know, that whole competitive business breeds innovation thing. But oppressive innovation is not what people are after. So long as people aren't harming others, they should be able to do what they please with what they purchase. There's also an inherent problem in Apple's outlook, because by not allowing consumers to use iTunes files on other devices, they're therefore limiting competition. It's not like there is a flashing message that pops from the iTunes store page, warning the purchaser that the files cannot operate on anything but an iPod. So, most may not even realize what they're getting into. So sure, iTunes store might be the optimum choice now, but what happens when another, better mp3 player comes out and these people find that those files are useless and their money was burned before them (discounting the crafty, more computer-savvy downloaders). Maybe they could gain a few more downloaders if they got rid of these encryptions. I'm sure it has something to do with the sale of iPods, obviously a huge revenue generator. But you know what, Apple? Let the consumers decide. Competition's good for business, right? So, let go and keep the consumers coming back because of the quality of your product. I know I will. That iPhone is lookin' damn sexy.

Also, why do you think the Europeans are more up on this stuff than us? Are we that blind as consumers? Post it!
Check out defectivebydesign.org who provided the pretty picture.