DVD Audio in July -- who wants to crack it?

[John Gilmore <gnu@toad.com>]

[These guys never learn that limiting the rights of the consumer who
purchases a DVD, beyond the copyright, will *always* invite an
antagonistic response from the customers.  It's because PUBLISHERS are
stealing rights from CONSUMERS, not the other way around.

Extra points for cracking it before the first public release, for
publishing the first algorithm description in plain English and math,
for defeating any "cancel access for cracked players" scheme, and for
releasing source code simultaneously with binaries. 

I recommend limiting large-scale piracy, whether or not you have the
capability, until after we win the court cases, though.  Irresponsible
actions by a few people make the judges think we are defending theft,
when we're really defending consumer rights, competition, and the
public domain.  --gnu]

Forwarded-by: Robin Gross <robin@eff.org>
Subject: DVD Audio in July

Consumer electronics giant Matsushita plans to roll out DVD-Audio 
products in July, seven months after its original target date. At the 
request of major music companies, the company postponed the 
introduction of its DVD-Audio line in order to build in a new 
copyright protection scheme; the original one was cracked by a 
Norwegian hacker.

The new DVD protection technology was developed by Matsushita in 
collaboration with Toshiba, Intel and IBM, collectively known as "the 
4C." The companies tout the technology's superior multi-key 
encryption.

The 4C solution may satisfy the needs of music and entertainment 
companies for the time being, but can it remain secure in an 
environment where hackers live for the thrill of the kill? As IBM 
Director of Digital Media Standards Alan Bell acknowledged, "there's 
no such thing as an uncrackable code."

Email your bets as to how long the security will remain intact to 
mailto:editor@webnoize.com