BD+ "the studio can remotely disable all of the affected players"

R

Ren H

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 27, 2005
Messages
203
New copy protection coming up (from behind, so to speak)

" Even more extreme is a scheme called BD+ that deals with the problem of what to do when someone cracks the encryption scheme. The players can automatically download new crypto if the old one is broken. But there's an ominous feature buried in this so-called protection mechanism: If a particular brand of player is cryptographically "compromised," the studio can remotely disable all of the affected players. In other words, if some hacker halfway across the globe cracks Sony's software, Sony can shut down my DVD player across the Net."

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2006/tc20060526_680075.htm?chan=technology_spr_home
 
The solution to this is: don't connect your frickin DVD player to the internet!
 
lol, I posted just to keep people up to date on how far the industry is going.

For my part I have $250+ (when new) decoder card that, to quote roughly, limits display output to 480p of copy protected dvds, why would I pay for my dvds when they do this? Of course I believe the article mentions a situation like this. This card is fully capable of displaying 1080p (EDIT: oops, seems I mispoke, max is 1080i not p). So anyway to hell with them all.
 
I think that it's probably a stretch to ask most people to hook their DVD players to a network, much less the internet. However, that wouldn't stop the manufacturers from putting this type of code on each DVD. That way, when the DVD is played, it can determine if something has been hacked or not. Sony has already demonstrated their willingness to do something like this, though not to the point of disabling hardware.
 
It's a Sigma Designs card, don't worry, I know how to get around it. :)
(EDIT: oops, seems I mispoke, max is 1080i not p)
It just really makes me wonder about supporting the industry when what you pay for is prevented from doing what it was designed to do. ie pay for the hardware, pay for the dvd's, then it's prevented from displaying at it's full ability because they don't want it copied.:rolleyes:

To add to that, they in effect are forcing me to copy it!
 
Bump in case anybody missed my edit and is looking for a card that might not exist. Sigma did have some much more expensive cards, but I don't think they are making them any more.
Drivers are still available (checked a couple of weeks back) under legacy products.
 
Meh, it wouldn't be long before the address to the site was found. Then, just block access to that site on your router so you can still get the other online content.
 
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