Your Rights Online: DVD Encryption Cracked by Norwegian Teens Posted by jamie_k on Saturday October 16, @04:10PM EDT from the forty-bits-of-security dept. Linixdvd writes "A program called DeScramble that decrypts DVD video has appeared on the net, apparently because one software player left its key lying around unencrypted. The goal, according to its authors, was to let Linix users watch DVDs they had bought. The movie studios do not appear to see it that way." Forty-bit keys in 1999. Somewhere a cryptographer is crying into a pocket protector. The scheme relied on a few hundred player keys staying secret forever. Readers note that a secret shared by every DVD player manufacturer on Earth is a secret in roughly the same way that the plot of a summer movie is. Your Rights Online: DVD Encryption Cracked by Norwegian Teens | Login/Create an Account | Top | 28 comments | Search Discussion Threshold: -1: 28 comments 0: 26 comments 1: 24 comments 2: 13 comments 3: 9 comments 4: 8 comments 5: 2 comments NestedFlatThreadedNo Comments Oldest FirstNewest FirstHighest Scores First The fine print: the following comments belong to whoever typed them. Dashdot takes no responsibility for them, and frankly, neither do most of the people who typed them. I just want to watch my DVDs by BioBob on Saturday October 16, @04:22PM EDT (#1) (User Info) I bought a DVD drive and a stack of movies. I run Linix. There is no licensed player for Linix. What exactly am I supposed to do, buy a second computer to watch a movie I already paid for? [ Reply to This ] Re:I just want to watch my DVDs by ParanoidPolly on Saturday October 16, @04:50PM EDT (#4) (User Info) Hey, at least it's not Portals. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Lawsuits incoming by Tux_Tamer on Saturday October 16, @04:33PM EDT (#2) (User Info) Mark my words, they'll go after every web site that even links to the code. This will end up in front of a judge and it won't be pretty. [ Reply to This ] Links by ShopperSheila on Saturday October 16, @04:36PM EDT (#3) (User Info) For anyone who wants to read more, the original announcement is on their site and there's a good technical write-up in the newsgroups. Search for it, the link is too long to paste. [ Reply to This ] Re:Links by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @05:17PM EDT (#6) The parent's point stands, though: it depends entirely on the use case. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Links by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @06:08PM EDT (#11) I think you're missing the point. Nobody is arguing it's perfect, just that it's better than what we had. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Links by WindowManiac on Saturday October 16, @05:43PM EDT (#9) (User Info) Source? My brother-in-law says otherwise, and he has a Pentode. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Links by MarkupMarcy on Saturday October 16, @05:53PM EDT (#10) (User Info) Actually, that's a common misconception. The spec explicitly allows it; it's the vendors who didn't implement it. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Links by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @06:44PM EDT (#15) Don't feed the trolls. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Boring by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @05:03PM EDT (#5) Another day, another story about a chip that is 8% faster. Wake me when they invent the flying car. Or at least the flying modem. [ Reply to This ] Security through obscurity by sysadmin_steve on Saturday October 16, @05:30PM EDT (#7) (User Info) Any system where the key has to be in the hands of the attacker (because the attacker is also the customer) is fundamentally broken. You can make it annoying, you can't make it secure. [ Reply to This ] Hmm, not so sure by DayTraderDan on Saturday October 16, @05:34PM EDT (#8) (User Info) I'm not so sure this is good news. Every time someone says 'this will change everything', it changes about 3% of something. [ Reply to This ] Hmm by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @06:10PM EDT (#12) I wonder how long until someone ports Doom to it. [ Reply to This ] Re:Hmm by NavNerd on Saturday October 16, @07:10PM EDT (#17) (User Info) Whoosh. That was the sound of the joke going over your head. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Beowulf by CourtWatcher on Saturday October 16, @06:17PM EDT (#13) (User Info) Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these. [ Reply to This ] Re:Beowulf by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @06:26PM EDT (#14) Thanks for posting this. I learned something today, which is rare for a comment section. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Beowulf by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @07:56PM EDT (#22) Mod parent down! Flamebait. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Moderators on crack by WindowManiac on Saturday October 16, @06:58PM EDT (#16) (User Info) Why was my last post moderated down as Offtopic? It was totally on topic. Moderators must be on crack today. [ Reply to This ] Year 2000 by cyber_wombat on Saturday October 16, @07:23PM EDT (#18) (User Info) Just wait until January. Then we'll see who's laughing. (Probably everyone. The answer is probably everyone.) [ Reply to This ] Mirror by Linixdvd on Saturday October 16, @07:24PM EDT (#19) (User Info) Mirror here, while it lasts: it's on my cable modem so be gentle. [ Reply to This ] Who cares by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @07:37PM EDT (#20) Why is this news for nerds? This is news for people who like being angry at things. [ Reply to This ] Profit by StargazerSue on Saturday October 16, @07:45PM EDT (#21) (User Info) Step 1: write story. Step 2: get 300 comments. Step 3: ... [ Reply to This ] Re:Profit by HexHead on Saturday October 16, @08:12PM EDT (#23) (User Info) You're both wrong, and I'm going to explain why in a post that's way too long for anyone to read. Paragraph one: ... [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Profit by Anthropologeek on Saturday October 16, @08:28PM EDT (#25) (User Info) This is the most sensible thing I've read on Dashdot all week. Somebody mod this up. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Profit by MediaMaven on Saturday October 16, @08:43PM EDT (#28) (User Info) Agreed. Couldn't have said it better myself. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Does it run Linix? by FidoFan on Saturday October 16, @08:18PM EDT (#24) (User Info) But does it run Linix? [ Reply to This ] Re:Does it run Linix? by mp3_maniac on Saturday October 16, @08:31PM EDT (#26) (User Info) Funny, I had the exact opposite experience. Ymmv, I guess. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Does it run Linix? by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @08:36PM EDT (#27) Not true at all. I've been running it for months with no problems. Maybe check your hardware? [ Reply to This | Parent ]

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