BackupHDDVD slapped with DMCA takedown notice

It's roamed relatively unscathed for a few months now, but it appears that BackupHDDVD -- the app that helps bypass the AACS copy protection on HD DVDs -- has been hit with its first major setback, drawing a DMCA takedown notice and vanishing from its perch at SourceForge as a result. Speaking to Wired blog 27B Stroke 6, SourceForge parent company VA Software's General Counsel Jay Seirmarco revealed that the AACS's complaint centered on copyrighted cryptographic keys allegedly contained within BackupHDDVD, which he says was verified to be true, giving SourceForge reason to remove the software. He added, however, that SourceForge would be willing to host a version of BackupHDDVD that did not contain the keys in question. This course of events will no doubt be familiar to anyone's who's followed the FairUse4WM saga, in which Microsoft issued a similar notice demanding that the software be taken down from its host site. Of course, BackupHDDVD isn't the only bit of software that messes with the copy protection on HD DVDs, although, as of yet, it's main rival AnyDVD HD remains untouched and readily available, albeit for a price.

[Via Slashdot]

[Wolfticket @ Mar 1st 2007 8:27PM]

Yes, this will solve the problem. I mean how can these nasty hackers find a place to host a tiny key file and make it available to download by the general public? I mean, it's not like they are able to make huge illegal HD video files available to download on the internet...

[art vandelay @ Mar 1st 2007 9:13PM]

oh shoot, i guess they got us this time.....

[coyotej @ Mar 1st 2007 9:21PM]

This certainly isn't the end of attempts to attack HD-format disc encryption... In fact, fighting the defeat of the DRM is actually bad for the format, it will slow adoption (given the current state of digital media). In fact, the fact that the formats were cracked started to [almost] get me interested in getting a BD-player or HD-DVD player, because at least that way I know I'd be able to rip the content should the format I happen to buy become obselete/non-standard. This format-war is really screwing everyone over.

[master of the obvious @ Mar 1st 2007 9:33PM]

Slysoft, the makers of AnyDVDHD, are probably not too worried as they are incorporated in Antigua. There, the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 is about as relevant as an ice-fishing boat.

[AndrewNeo @ Mar 1st 2007 9:55PM]

Unfortunately for them, SourceForge is in America and has to deal with the DMCA notice.

[steve @ Mar 1st 2007 9:36PM]

im sure that it will be on limewire, bittorrent, usenext, and different sites anyway
taking it off of one site doesnt do much good since people already have it

[E @ Mar 1st 2007 10:03PM]

So...because of AACS we need AnyDVD-HD to rip our HD-DVD's to HDD on our HTPC to watch them through DVI-D or HDMI on our HDTV LCDs or PDPs which are not HDCP-compliant.

;)

[Tommy @ Mar 1st 2007 10:04PM]

i remember when this happened with DeCSS. Pavlovich v. Superior Court (DVD Copy Control Association, Real Party in Interest)29 Cal.4th 262, 58 P.3d 2 (2002)
They couldn't get personal jurisdiction over him. New school Civil procedure classic.

[Aaron @ Mar 2nd 2007 1:47AM]

I guess I understand why they try to stop this, but they've got to realize it's just not going to make a difference... The people who want to copy movies to their hard drive are going to find a way, and the rest of the people aren't going to care anyway, no matter how convenient the software is. So what's the point? Let the hackers play.

[ForumMaster @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:06AM]

OK, so it's no longer available on sourceforge, but a simple google search reveals it's wide availability elsewhere. the DCMA can't stop this.

[Chuckles McGee @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:25AM]

But the DeCSS case didn't involved stored keys, it was a tool to crack encryption that didn't contain the keys to all of these movies itself. Really, a program is just a bunch of text and you'd imagine distribution would be protected under the first amendment- exactly why the DeCSS case never went through.

But if you have a key stored within the program that was taken from a copyrighted disc and then hosted online, you are distributing a portion of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder- something not protected by the first amendment.

I'm as much for fair-use as the next guy, I just think this specific case does have some legal validity. To remain kosher, BackupHDDVD would need to be recoded to extract the key from the disc during the user's session so that these keys are not distributed with the program. In this way, BackupHDDVD would be just like DeCSS and legal. Actually enforcing any legal decision is a whole other matter and a plugin for BackupHDDVD that connected to network of delocalized remote servers for newly updated key files could probably never be shutdown entirely.

[macona @ Mar 2nd 2007 2:21PM]

They say the keys are copyrighted? So that means we should be able to find the copyright application filed with the Patent office, right?