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January 30th, 2007

Vista DRM: How fools and their copy-protection investments are always separated

Posted by David Berlind @ 3:26 pm

Categories: Entertainment, General, Legal, Personal Technology, Security, Vista

Tags:

In Focus » See more posts on: DRM

Since the dawn of copy protection, every scheme worth breaking has been broken yet the cats cannot bear to give up their obsession with the mice. In the end, the bits always get away and already with today's big operating system launch, Vista appears to be no different. Wrote Corey Doctorow (my favorite crusader against DRM):

Alex Ionesco, a security researcher in Montreal, has released technical details of a hack he's developed for Windows Vista. The hack lets him subvert Windows' anti-copying technology and get a full-resolution, unencrypted high-def video stream…..As described, Ionesco's hack is quite ingenious, and it subverts the system in a way that bypasses its fail-safes. Ionesco leads technically sophisticated Free Software projects, and is a credible source of such a break….Vista launched this week, and it's already broken. As with previous multi-year DRM development efforts, this one disintegrated like wet kleenex on contact with the general public. Now that Vista, HDCP, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are all broken, it seems like the millions of dollars and thousands of work-hours sunk into these systems was mis-spent.

When will they learn?

David Berlind has been Executive Editor at ZDNet since 1998 and has been a technology journalist since 1991. Although he can't respond to all e-mails, he reads them all. You can reach David at david.berlind AT cnet.com. If you don't want the content of your e-mail to turn up in a blog entry, make sure you say so. To the extent that most e-mail he receives looks to sway his opinion about something, he usually looks to pass those points of view onto ZDNet's audience members for their consideration . For disclosures on David's industry affiliations, click here.
  • Talkback
  • Most Recent of 40 Talkback(s)
DRM was never about stopping piracy
The DMCAs targets were not filesharers . The precursor of the DMCA, the Green Paper, was drafted in 1994 and the bills it spawned failed in the US Congres , it morphed into the "White Paper" and wa... (Read the rest)
Posted by: Edward Meyers Posted on: 02/03/07 You are currently: a Guest | | Terms of Use
"disintegrated like wet kleenex on contact"  Tony Agudo | 01/30/07
Tens to Hundreds of Millions  TripleII | 01/30/07
That would be a great outcome, but...  Tony Agudo | 01/30/07
Makes me wonder  TripleII | 01/30/07
If it was modularized,...  Tony Agudo | 01/30/07
If the following were only true....  mrlinux | 01/31/07
What about this for DRM?  bportlock | 01/31/07
BTW, the patent in the message is a Microsoft one (nt)  bportlock | 01/31/07
Optimal DRM strategy  tic swayback | 01/31/07
Re: Optimal DRM strategy  none none | 01/31/07
Ouch!  tic swayback | 01/31/07
Balm  Anton Philidor | 01/31/07
Is today opposite day?  tic swayback | 01/31/07
Re: Is today opposite day?  none none | 01/31/07
So what you're saying is...  tic swayback | 02/01/07
Re: So what you're saying is...  none none | 02/01/07
Is that really a change?  tic swayback | 02/01/07
Caveats  Anton Philidor | 02/01/07
The market will decide  tic swayback | 02/01/07
Re: Ouch!  none none | 01/31/07
Sort of  tic swayback | 01/31/07
Re: Sort of  none none | 01/31/07
Perfect example  tic swayback | 02/01/07
I HATE that!  Patrick Jones | 02/01/07
Of course DRM will be broken.  Anton Philidor | 01/31/07
Funny...  ju1ce | 01/31/07
Forced to re-buy  tic swayback | 01/31/07
Re: Forced to re-buy  none none | 01/31/07
DRM as successful inconvenience, though technical failure.  Anton Philidor | 01/31/07
More than just one reason  tic swayback | 01/31/07
... only as intended.  Anton Philidor | 01/31/07
Who are the customers?  tic swayback | 01/31/07
Pay for software?  worldnamer@... | 01/31/07
DRM being *cracked* doesn't matter ...  chekmarx@... | 01/31/07
Couldn't you have said the same thing...  tic swayback | 01/31/07
If a few geeks pirate music/software  mrjonno | 02/01/07
Every average user...  ju1ce | 02/01/07
DRM vs OS security  MrAdequate | 02/01/07
They will NEVER learn ...  mwagner@... | 02/02/07
DRM was never about stopping piracy  Edward Meyers | 02/03/07

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