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aacs posts

Managed Copy hits Blu-ray Discs December 4th, but you still can't use it

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Nov 7th 2009 at 2:34AM

The egg had to come before the chicken right? Well either way, one of 'em came first and in the case of the latest Blu-ray feature, Managed Copy, the Blu-ray Discs will come before the hardware. Less than five months since AACS was finalized and the details of Managed Copy were revealed and so far we've only seen one demo and not a single product announcement. This doesn't surprise us, but AACS-LA is apparently surprised because although all Blu-ray Discs sold after December 4th have no choice but to allow at least one copy to be made, the requirement to label the packaging as such has been postponed until Spring of next year. We'd expect at least a few products that support Managed Copy to be announced at CES and although we highly doubt any stand-alone Blu-ray players will sport this feature anytime soon, we do have our hopes on PC software and expect a few movie jukebox devices like Kaleidescape -- that we won't be able to afford -- will be announced at the big show in Vegas.

Video: First working Blu-ray Managed Copy demo

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Sep 10th 2009 at 7:44PM

Just because Pioneer isn't in the plasma business anymore doesn't mean the company is dead, and one of the new points of focus over there is on media aggregation. So part of the new do-it-all Entertainment Tap concept Pioneer was displaying today included a demo of storing Managed Copies of Blu-ray Discs on a hard drive. The copy itself was done in about 4x real time (dependent on the drive's speed) and looked great thanks to some hardware transcoding. We also appreciated the Pioneer interface that made copying the disc easy. Of course at this point this is just a demo, with no word on availability or price, but it is a start to what will one day hopefully be a better way to enjoy HD movies.

Continue reading Video: First working Blu-ray Managed Copy demo

The plan for legit Blu-ray copies explained at Engadget HD

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 19th 2009 at 8:58PM

For those with a disc rack full of Blu-ray packages and who'd like to shove all those optical discs to the attic for a streamlined media server solution -- without resorting to other routes like downloading or cracking open AACS -- Managed Copy is finally on the way, thanks to the just finalized AACS specification, to offer an authorized option for making a copy of your Blu-ray disc. We had a nice long talk with gatekeepers AACS-LA about what to expect when compatible Blu-ray hardware arrives in 2010 and Managed Copy-enabled discs begin shipping later this year; for more details like how many copies can be made, how the DRM works and how much this might cost head over to Engadget HD and see what it all means, and hopefully when we can put away our discs for the last time in favor of a Blu-ray Jukebox.

Blu-ray gets Managed Copy next year, requires new hardware

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jun 12th 2009 at 10:34AM

It took over three years, but mandatory Managed Copy is set to become a reality next year as each studio is required to sign the recently finalized AACS license by December 4th 2009, and any studio that signs early receives up to a 25 percent discount on licensing fees. What isn't mandatory, though, is hardware support, and although the current generation of players definitely won't work, most expect the majority of new BD devices to. The cost (you didn't think it'd be free, did you?) and the number of copies is up to the studio, but at least one copy will be allowed. That copy can be made via a menu on the disc and can take the form of another Blu-ray Disc or a DRM-laced Microsoft file. Up until now, Apple hasn't joined the party so no joy for iPod users -- although this could still happen. Either way, a connection to either the AACS' or studio's authorization server will be required to make it work. As cool as this all sounds, we're still skeptical; and although we'll be the first to try it, somehow we don't think it'll live up to our expectations.

BBC breaks down the new DRM rules for Blu-ray recorders

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 17th 2009 at 4:01PM

The reason Blu-ray recorders have migrated from Japan to the UK recently -- and why you'll likely never see them in the U.S. -- is all about the copyright holders. Danielle Nagler, head of BBC HD, hit the blogs to break down the wheres and hows of the DRM changes associated with bringing FreeSat disc HD DVRs like the Panasonic DMR-BS850 and Humax FOXSAT-HDR to market, basically meaning users are allowed one HD copy of a show, which can be played back on protected devices and connections only (transfer to portable players is planned to the future.) Follow the flow chart for the details, and figure out if it'd be worth it to make your own BD-R DVR backups so easily.

[Via Pocket-Lint]

Tsutaya online video portal to allow HD-to-optical disc burning

by Darren Murph posted Dec 11th 2008 at 12:15PM

For all the digital download pundits who are quick to harp on the "limited viewing window" of downloadable material, chew on this. In a move that can only be described as "miraculous progress," Japan's own Tsutaya has somehow twisted the arms of four US film companies in order to allow HD content to be recorded to Blu-ray Discs or other optical media (up to two times) for later viewing. Initially, the Tsutaya TV on acTVila will have around half of its library (412 titles and growing) available for burning, and while details are somewhat fuzzy, we are told that HDTV video can be exported "without down-conversion" to BD-Rs, DVD-Rs and iVDR-S media. Of course, AACS protection will be applied, but this is infinitely more convenient than that whole Qflix disaster. Better still, we're told that future improvements will include down-converting HD content for use on portable devices (think Digital Copy), and it's anticipated that the downloadable films will be available day-and-date with hard copy releases. The rub? Each film will cost around ¥3,675 ($40), so for now, you're still better off heading to the store. Still -- focus on the progress, people, progress.

ASUS intros HDMI-equipped Xonar HDAV1.3 sound card

by Darren Murph posted Jun 5th 2008 at 8:32AM

Worried about getting lossless digital audio from your BD-playin' HTPC via HDMI, are you? Fret no longer, as ASUS has just introduced your solution at Computex. Hailed as the "world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card," the Xonar HDAV1.3 is both Protected Audio Playback Systems (PAPS) and Advanced Access Content System (AACS) certified, enabling it to pipe out bitstreamed multi-channel HD audio from Blu-ray Discs through a single cable. Yep, with some help of a special version of ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theater, it's also fully capable of decoding BD titles and taking full advantage of Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio -- not limited to 16bit like previous solutions -- and taking full advantage of Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio, and just so you know, the firm is also offering up a Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe (shown after the cut) which allows users to get 7.1-channels of audio the analog way. Pricing? Pssh -- this is ASUS we're talking about here.

[Via DailyTech]

Continue reading ASUS intros HDMI-equipped Xonar HDAV1.3 sound card

BD+ has not been compromised, yet

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 9th 2008 at 4:12PM

Despite SlySoft announcing that BD+ was compromised, and promising an update to its AnyDVD HD software, -- which enables you to rip a Blu-ray discs -- here we are a few months later and the latest is that SlySoft recommends that you buy HD DVD. But with Warner recently going blu, a question at the Blu-ray press conference was "did BD+ have anything to do with their decision?" And while Warner's answer was "no", afterwards it was brought to our attention by a Fox employee that BD+ has not been compromised. But, if that's true, then where do these HD Fox titles distributed via illegal means come from? The situation is actually hilariously ironic, as in love with BD+ that Fox seems to be, high quality transfers of their movies still make it onto the internet because of the European releases of HD DVD -- not distributed by Fox and thus not Blu-ray exclusive -- are only protected with AACS. So if you think about it, without BD+, users would have to buy Fox titles to get them on their computer for other uses, but as it stands, it makes more sense for them skip laying down any cash and download the movies instead, nice job guys.

SlySoft claims to have cracked BD+, naysayers fall quiet

by Darren Murph posted Oct 30th 2007 at 3:13AM

We haven't broken down the minutes and seconds or anything, but we're fairly certain that July 10th wasn't exactly ten years ago. Nevertheless, the so-called "impenetrable" BD+ DRM scheme has reportedly already been subverted, and it's no shock to hear that the folks behind SlySoft had a hand in it. Regrettably, there's not a lot of details beyond that just yet, but according to the outfit's CEO, the software is ready to rock and should be released before the end of 2007. Chalk (yet another) one up to the hackers.

[Via HighDefDigest, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

BD+ DRM is now available for Blu-ray

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jun 20th 2007 at 12:44PM

Some people still haven't figured out that DRM doesn't work, and in yet another attempt to "enable content" the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is proud to announce that BD+ is available. The recent exploits in AACS have been rumored to slow down the release schedule for Blu-ray titles from FOX and Disney and many believe this is because they've been waiting for BD+, -- an additional optional layer of DRM available to Blu-ray. This new code will run in a virtual machine while the disc is in use and can do just about whatever it deems necessary to validate that your player is secure before allowing the movie to be played. What BD+ cannot do is modify your player, so once the disc is ejected, the process is gone.

[Via Blu-ray.com]

AACS managed copy? We got yer managed copy right 'ere

by Ryan Block posted May 24th 2007 at 12:03PM

Remember managed copy? Aw c'mon, it hasn't been that long! Managed copy is / was the answer to people's desire to do totally reasonable things like rip their movies to a portable device, or to a central home server for streaming around the house. Basically the provision in AACS DRM allows users to legally rip however many copies the studio specifies, but those legal rips will still be heavily encased in dark, slippery DRM-goo. You know, just in case you should have friends over with a laptop and sticky fingers. Well, Blu-ray and HD DVD have long since landed, seemingly without any plans for managed copy; shocker, the studios didn't take advantage of the provision. But seeing as how AACS is crackable by a single, simple hex key, the high def DRM obviously wasn't able to cut the mustard in keeping users from doing with their content what they please. The AACS LA's solution? Let them eat cake. The DRM-maker's new plan to distract people from the fact that they can already rip their HD movies to DRM-free formats is simply to pressure and ultimately convince the studios to take advantage of managed copy, and all will be well. (Except for the still-present DRM vestiges.) Will they turn these studios' opinion of managed copy around? Um, what do you think?

Update: Ars apparently got in touch with the AACS LA, who seemed to claim that the provisional AACS license granted in early 2006 is not final, and the feature isn't "ready". That seems to contradict previous reports that have the tech as being done, but just merely unimplemented (the two are like, so totally different, man). Whatever the case, the important part is that maybe, just maybe, it's coming along this year.

Newest AACS circumvented: The Matrix Trilogy set free

by Thomas Ricker posted May 17th 2007 at 2:59AM

Just in case you didn't already piece it together, many (if not all) of the new HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles set for release on May 22nd will feature the latest revisions to AACS. Right, the update hinted at by those forced user updates to the WinDVD and PowerDVD software. Yeah, well no worries... it's cracked. That's right, a week before the disks have even hit the shops, the kids over at Slysoft have already released AnyDVD HD 6.1.5.1 (beta) which kicks AACS MKB v3 swiftly to the curb. Thus you can continue to rip all your newly purchased HD DVD and BD flicks for playback any damn way you like. The update has already been demonstrated to work with an early-shipped release of The Matrix Trilogy on HD DVD and will likely work for Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest when it arrives on Blu-ray. Come on AACS LA, you're gonna have to at least try. Better yet, why not just give up this silly charade.

[Thanks, Garth M.]

AACS hacked to expose Volume ID: WinDVD patch irrelevant

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 10th 2007 at 6:04AM

The DRM "protecting" HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc films -- AACS -- continues to unravel at the seams. In parallel efforts, hackers in both the Xboxhacker and Doom9 forums have exposed the "Volume ID" for discs played on XBOX 360 HD DVD drives. Any inserted disc will play without first authenticating with AACS, even those with Volume IDs which have already been revoked by the AACS LA due to previous hacking efforts. Add the exposed processing keys and you can decrypt and backup your discs for playback on any device of your choosing. So yeah, it looks like last week's WinDVD update has been quickly and definitively made useless just as we expected it would be. Well, for XBOX 360 HD DVD drive owners anyway but you can see where this is heading, right? Now go ahead AACS LA, revoke the Toshiba-built XBOX 360 HD DVD player... we double-dog dare ya.

AACS patch for WinDVD, HD DVD and BD players: update or never watch movies again

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 6th 2007 at 5:04AM

In case DRM hasn't caused you -- the honest consumer -- enough pain already. Check it, you've got some required software updating to do now that Corel has introduced a patch to their cracked InterVideo WinDVD software. Best do it pronto too. According to Corel, "failure to apply the update will result in AACS-protected HD DVD and BD playback being disabled." That means no more hi-def movies for you, Mr. assumed criminal. Thing is, this is no ordinary patch since WinDVD exposed the hardware specific device key to video pirates. So not only are you required to update their janky WinDVD software, you also have to track down and install the paticular AACS patch for the HD DVD or BD player you own. Of course this only patches one flaw in the massively compromised DRM boondoggle. And just think, you can repeat the whole process again after hackers circumvent this latest attempt at "content protection." Isn't DRM nice?

[Via Impress]

DVDFab: Now with HD DVD backup support, enjoy!

by Richard Lawler posted Mar 18th 2007 at 11:05PM

Another day, another all-in-one solution for copying AACS-protected HD DVDs hits the streets. Fengtao Software has thrown support for the next generation format into the latest beta version (3.0.9.0) of its DVDFab copying software. Following in the steps of Slysoft's AnyDVD HD, the maker of DVDFab HD Decrypter says Blu-ray backup support is "coming soon", and that it's capable of copying an HD DVD to the hard drive -- sans any copy protection restrictions -- in less than one hour. Of course the changelog doesn't provide details on how DVDFab does it's unDRMing thing, but with so many methods available, does it really matter which one? Still no word on how AACS LA plans to respond to the growing availability of easy hacks and DRM-free HD editions of Hollywood's latest, but at this rate we'll have a war between various makers of one-click backup software to rival Blu-ray vs. HD DVD.

[Via AfterDawn]