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4K copy protection removal shop settles for $5.2 million
Intel and Warner Bros. are still very much embroiled in a war on companies stripping copyright protection from 4K and Blu-ray videos. Hardware seller Ace Deal has agreed to pay the two industry giants $5.2 million to settle a lawsuit over alleged violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Supposedly, Ace Deal knowingly aided in piracy by selling devices that remove HDCP anti-copying measures, making it relatively easy to bootleg the latest 4K movie extravaganza. The shop has already pulled the offending gear from its online store and is barred from selling similar devices in the future, but the small outfit still faces a relatively big, potentially crippling payout.
Intel, Warner sue over device that strips 4K copy protection
The media industry was more than a little alarmed when 4K bootlegs of Amazon and Netflix streams showed up this November. Weren't these feeds supposed to be relatively safe from pirates? It's no surprise, then, that they're doing something about it. Intel (through its Digital Content Protection brand) and Warner Bros. are suing LegendSky for offering HDFury, a series of devices designed to strip HDCP copy protection from many sources, including streams. The two plaintiffs claim that HDFury violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention measures, making it all too easy to rip and share 4K video. They also allege that LegendSky is dishonest when it says it meets HDCP's licensing requirements.
The PS4's first big update is almost here, check out what's inside
Curious to know everything that's in the PlayStation 4's 1.70 update launching on Wednesday? You won't have to download it yourself to find out -- Sony has spilled the beans ahead of time. Some of these updates we've heard about before, such as the SHAREfactory video editor, 720p HD Twitch streams (that are archivable) and automatic pre-order downloads. However, we now know that there's quite a few subtler improvements in store. You can control the default length for shared gameplay videos before saving them to a USB drive, and a toggle to dim the DualShock 4's lightbar is included in this update. Remote Link pairing with the PlayStation Vita is now automatic, and those who hate credit cards can shop with PayPal on the PlayStation Store. All told, this is a lot more than a simple tune-up, and you'll likely want it as soon as it hits the servers -- updated companion apps for iOS and Android are already available. Update: The 194MB download is rolling out now, and there are a few more tweaks included in the changelog, like the ability to log in multiple users with a single controller.
Next week's PS4 update adds video editor SHAREfactory, HDCP disabling
New PlayStation 4 firmware is set to arrive on April 30, bringing the SHAREfactory video editing suite to the system along with other extras, including "HDCP off." Sony Europe and Japan Asia confirmed the date today; PlayStation firmware is usually released worldwide simultaneously, so it's likely the 1.70 update will hit North America on the same day. Scorsese types can use SHAREfactory to splice gameplay clips together and add some personal pizazz through things like overlays, filters, and picture-in-picture commentary (if they've got the PS Camera.) The option to toggle HDCP off means they can also capture and save high-definition gameplay video to a USB drive. The 1.70 firmware also introduces auto-downloading, allowing eager beavers to pre-load games they've pre-ordered, so they unlock ASAP on release day. Update: The PlayStation Twitter account has confirmed that the 1.70 update will reach North America on April 30.
Future PS4 firmware to allow gameplay capture without HDCP restrictions
Upcoming PlayStation 4 firmware is bringing the option to turn off High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) for high-definition gameplay capture, along with the ability to save videos and screenshots to a USB drive. Sony noted it previously announced the impending removal of HDCP restrictions as a post-launch feature, but it's still welcome news for YouTube users, as is the introduction of a "rich video editor" in the 1.70 update. "We recognize that some gamers want to record and share longer clips of their gameplay sessions, and we're excited to deliver this option with PS4," wrote SCEA's Scott McCarthy. "There's a lot more coming in this update as well, so stay tuned for more - there will be plenty in the update to excite everyone." As for gameplay streaming, Sony is also upping the resolution on Ustream and Twitch streams to 720p in a separate, future update. McCarthy also reiterated Sony's plans to bring Twitch archiving to the PS4 in that future update, but didn't provide a timeline for when users can expect it. He did note the 1.70 firmware is due "in the upcoming weeks." [Image: Sony]
Xbox 360 system update gets its colors in order, makes it mandatory
Remember those color problems experienced by some Xbox 360 users after last year's dashboard update? Microsoft appears to have fixed the issue in its latest system update, although it will take time for the fix to roll out across the associated apps -- we've been told this will happen over the next few months. Its Sony rival also rolled out its own (optional) update for the PS3 yesterday, improving "certain aspects" of the UI. The Xbox team promise that their update will also increase performance, but don't take their word for it; the update is rolling out now -- let us know how it goes.
Microsoft acknowledges Xbox 360 color space problem in last update, is working on a fix
While we found a lot of things to like in the last Xbox 360 dashboard upgrade, not everyone was happy after it finally rolled out in early December. We've received word from multiple owners who saw and reported color output problems since the beta began, and today Director of Programming Larry Hryb aka Major Nelson tweeted that the company is "aware of the color space issue w/ some Xbox video apps & are working on a fix". While that should take care of some issues, more recent reports also indicate problems with the HDMI output having HDCP authentication problems with certain TVs or receivers that blocks video output, as well as reports confirmed by Eurogamer that 1080p output appears to be downscaled to 720p internally. We're waiting for a response from Microsoft about these or any other issues and will let you know when we hear more. Let us know if you've noticed anything else in the new Xbox 360 update that needs tweaking in the comments below.[Thanks, Vinny P, Brad R. and everyone else who sent this in]
Intel and LG deal brings WiDi streaming to HDTVs without the dongle
Intel's Wireless Display tech has promised to pull together properly equipped laptops and nearby HDTV screens since its debut last year, but until now always required an extra add-on for the TV side of the equation. That will change next year, thanks to an agreement by the chipmaker with LG promising its Cinema 3D Smart TV line will be the first ones with WiDi built right in. Just like it does with existing dongles, compatible devices can stream content (including HDCP protected video like DVDs and Blu-rays, as of Sandy Bridge) to the display while displaying something different on their own screen, and don't require an active WiFi or internet setup to make it all happen. The press release (included after the break) promises demonstrations next month at CES, while some manufacturers like Philips have included similar technology, we'll see if this becomes a standard feature.
Blu-ray video encryption cracked using $260 kit
When a master key for HDCP encryption surfaced last year, Intel hardly broke a sweat. It declared that nobody could use the key to unlock Blu-rays or other protected sources unless they got into the semiconductor business and "made a computer chip" of their own. Oh Mann, didn't they realize? That sort of language is like a red rag to a German post-grad, and now Ruhr University's Secure Hardware Group has produced the ultimate rebuttal: a custom board that uses a field programmable gate array (FPGA) board to sit between a Blu-ray player and TV and decode the passing traffic. Student price: €200, and no silly bodysuits required.
Intel refreshes Wireless Display with support for DRM-protected DVDs, Blu-rays
We were bowled over from the start by Intel's Wireless Display technology, which lets you stream HD content from select laptops to an HDTV (with the help of a small adapter, of course). But while WiDi's been good for watching The Colbert Report on Hulu and streaming flicks stored on your hard drive, it hasn't played so nice with DVDs and Blu-rays. At last, though, Intel is supporting HDCP-protected discs (along with some online content) through a free driver update. One catch: it only applies to Sandy Bridge laptops, which just started shipping this spring. If your notebook's a few months too old, well, using an HDMI cable isn't the worst consolation prize.
Motorola Xoom software update brings SSL and Widevine DRM, no LTE quite yet (update: pulled)
Seems like Verizon, Motorola and Google are on a bit of a security bent -- the latest update for the Motorola Xoom lets you take a far more leisurely tour of the internet's walled gardens. There's a WPA-PSK security fix to allow choice users into your mobile hotspot, SSL for secure web browsing, Google's Widevine DRM for viewing locked online video content and HDCP for piping it to your TV. Of course, there's no mention of the Xoom feature we're truly waiting for, but we'll happily take our Bluetooth mouse support and POP3 email in the meanwhile. Droid-Life reports that this HMJ07B update will start hitting Xooms later today, but Verizon's still got a month to make good on those LTE promises. Update: We're not quite sure what happened, but Droid-Life discovered that Verizon's update-detailing PDF has been pulled, so it's probably better to not expect an OTA upgrade later this afternoon. [Thanks, K]
HDCP may spoil your Apple TV fun
Given the minimal available output ports (just HDMI and TOSlink optical audio) on the Apple TV, it's no surprise that the low-cost HDMI to DVI cables used in some home media setups aren't supported. Unfortunately, if you're using HDMI converters or cables of the sort, you may be out of luck with the new device. Your iTunes movie and TV purchases may be available to your Apple TV via Home Sharing, but unless the signal pathway between your ATV and your display is all-digital and HDCP compliant, that content (flagged as 'protected' by the content providers) will not display. While some DVI-equipped TVs and HDMI/DVI cables are HDCP savvy, most are not. This isn't unique to the new Apple TV among Apple's products, by the way. Try playing a rented/purchased iTunes movie on a DisplayPort-equipped MacBook Pro while a DVI monitor is connected; you'll get bupkis. Even the original Apple TV has HDCP control on the HDMI port, although in that case the analog outputs are available. Even though Apple's specification is clear on the HDMI all the way requirement, it implies that unprotected content should play fine even if the HDCP checks are unavailable. That's not what several users have discovered, per Ted Landau at Macworld, as they report wavy displays using HDMI–DVI. If you've been having HDCP-driven agita with your new Apple TV, let us know below.
Editorial: For the umpteenth time, copy 'protection' only hurts people who actually buy your product
It's been said so many times, but I just got stung hard by the DRM bug, and since there's a "Senior Associate Editor" next to my name somewhere I get to complain about it. Now, if you're a regular consumer with a modicum of common sense, nothing I'm going to say here will come as a surprise or revelation. You're welcome to come along for the ride, but I'm pointing my quivering pen today at the media execs and their willing technologist accomplices that have the nerve in 2010 to enforce HDCP and other completely inane DRM and copy protection schemes to "protect" their content from theft: You idiots.
Confirmed: Intel says HDCP 'master key' crack is real
It's been just a few days since we broke news of the HDCP master key crack -- a rogue unlocking of the code that keeps HD content under strict control. Now Intel has independently confirmed to both Fox News and CNET that the code is indeed the genuine article. According to company spokesman Tom Waldrop, "It does appear to be a master key," adding that "What we have confirmed through testing is that you can derive keys for devices from this published material that do work with the keys produced by our security technology... this circumvention does appear to work." Coming from the company that developed and propagated the protocol, that's about as clear as you can get. If Intel is worried about the potential damage to copyrighted material and a new flood of super high-quality pirated material, however, the company certainly isn't showing it. "For someone to use this information to unlock anything, they would have to implement it in silicon -- make a computer chip," Waldrop told Fox News, and that chip would have to live on a dedicated piece of hardware -- something Intel doesn't think is likely to happen in any substantial way. Of course, like any major corporation, Intel seems prepared to duke things out in the legal arena should any super-rich hackers decide to do the unthinkable. So, to the Batcave then?
HDCP 'master key' supposedly released, unlocks HDTV copy protection permanently
(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg Just as the MPAA is preparing to offer movies to customers at home while they're still in theaters by limiting playback to DRM-protected digital outputs only, the HDCP protocol they rely on may have been cracked wide open. All devices that support HDCP, like Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and displays with HDMI inputs, have their own set of keys to encrypt and decrypt protected data and if keys for a particular device are compromised, they can be revoked by content released in the future which will then refuse to play. Now, posts have been floating around on Twitter about a supposed "master key" which renders that protection unusable since it allows anyone to create their own source and sink keys. Who discovered this and by what technique isn't immediately clear, but as early as 2001 security researcher Niels Ferguson proposed that it could be easily revealed by knowing the keys of less than 50 different devices. Hardware HDCP rippers like the HDfury2 and DVIMAGIC have been around for a while and various AACS cracks easily allow rips of Blu-ray discs but if this information is what it claims to be, then the DRM genie could be permanently out of the bag allowing perfect high definition copies of anything as long as the current connector standards are around. While it's unlikely your average user would flash their capture device with a brand new key and get to copying uncompressed HD audio and video, keeping those early releases off of the torrents in bit perfect quality could go from difficult to impossible.
Belkin's AV360 Mini DisplayPort Converter lets you play Xbox 360 on iMac, costs as much as an Arcade
If you're inhabiting one of those quaint, downtown studio apartments in which your sink, oven, computer, and toilet are all within reach of your swiveling desk chair, and if that computer happens to be a 27-inch iMac, we have good news for you. Belkin has introduced its AV360 Mini DisplayPort Converter, which takes an HDMI input at up to 1080p and squeezes it into a Mini DisplayPort connector at 720p for display on your iMac. It'll also push stereo audio through and is HDCP-compliant, so even protected content from your Blu-ray player will get by. The cost? $150, which is cheaper than getting a second display, but an awful lot for a converter box with a single input -- especially when MonoPrice has similar offerings (which admittedly lack audio and HDCP) for under $10. But, if you don't have room for anything else, this will fit in nicely with you and your minimalist/affluent lifestyle. Update: We got it wrong on the MonoPrice reference here. That adapter goes the other way!
FCC will let the MPAA disable analog outputs, kind of
The Motion Picture Association of America has been trying to get a waiver for the FCC Selectable Output Control (SoC) ban since it went into effect -- the ability to only allow content to flow from a HDCP protected HDMI port. Up until now there has been lots of debate and no action. The bad news is that the MPAA can now use SoC to protect high value content, the good news is the FCC really locked down exactly when it can be used. Basically any movie that's never been released on disc (DVD or Blu-ray) can be protected with SoC for 90 days. The reason the FCC granted this partial waiver was because the content affected isn't currently available to cable and satellite anyways -- in other words consumers who own older HDTVs, without HDMI ports, don't currently expect access to these movies. So for those with older hardware nothing changes, and for those with the latest and greatest, you'll be able to rent newer movies from home. And for everyone else there's the HDfury2 -- no, they'll never learn that DRM is a big waste of time and money. Full waiver after the jump.
TUAW Review: Kanex HDMI + audio adapter works fine but costs extra
When we first heard about the Kanex HDMI + digital audio converter a few weeks ago, I was eager to give it a trial run and see if it managed to deliver on the promise of integrated audio with HDMI video. I've been playing with the $70 unit for a few days now, and the answer is a qualified yes: it does the job, but depending on your home theater setup you may be able to get by with a less expensive option. The digital-audio Kanex unit ships without a manual and is largely self-explanatory (although the company has now posted a basic user guide and FAQ) -- a female HDMI port on one side of the roughly iPod-sized unit, and three male cables coming out the other side. The cables connect to the mini DisplayPort, optical audio out, and USB port of your Mac; while Kanex does sell a $60 unit that handles audio over USB, this version only uses that connection to power the adapter and does not provide a USB audio interface. If you're running short of open powered USB ports you might opt to plug it into a USB power adapter instead. In operation, there's not much to worry about: I plugged in all three ports to a unibody MacBook Pro and connected an HDMI display, then went to the normal Mac OS X Displays preference pane, where I found a full assortment of resolutions for my enjoyment. The top few 'television' options may vary with your connected gear; on my test set (a Vizio 42" 720p display) I was able to choose 720p and, oddly enough, 1080i and 1080p. Below that you have resolutions ranging from 640x480 up into the 1600x1000 range.
IOGEAR unveils new HDMI Control Center for well-heeled A/V fiends
Sure, for some folks a simple 4-port HDMI extender is all that's needed, but you're not playing around, are you? If "overkill" is the only way that you roll, check out IOGEAR's latest: the HDMI Control Center includes a wireless keyboard with built-in laser trackball, supports 1080p (1920 x 1200) and HDMI 1.3, is HDCP compliant, rocks Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Support, and ships for the princely sum of $499.95. Definitely not for the weak-willed. PR after the break.
MPAA still trying to close the analog hole: Now with new, more inane arguments
The MPAA can't stop, won't stop trying to cut out that pesky analog loophole, and it has returned to the FCC's gates once again requesting permission for selective output control: the ability to disable consumers unprotected (read: HDCP-less) video outputs at its discretion. According to Ars Technica the new argument is that the Consumer Electronics Association and everyone else who hates this idea are simply holding back technology, which the studios would love to use to provide a glorious utopia of early release films available via video on-demand. The request has been smacked down more than once before, but this is the first time it's come up with the new administration so it's anyone's guess what will happen, but we'd keep those petition signing fingers at the ready, just in case. [Warning: PDF read link][Via Ars Technica]
