[opendtv] AACS DRM tentacles reach far into operating systems

  • From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: undisclosed-recipient:;
  • Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:06:14 -0400

AACS DRM tentacles reach far into operating systems

By Ken Fisher | Published: August 12, 2007 - 11:03PM CT
Introduction

"The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was in getting folks to 
blame someone other than Hollywood for video DRM." -not Keyser Söze

Peter Gutmann, author of a well-known and fascinating paper 
describing the tradeoffs of Microsoft's content protection system in 
Windows Vista, is on the hunt again. Last year, his paper "Cost 
Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection" painted a grim picture 
of the lengths Microsoft went to in order to gain full compliance 
with AACS, the next-gen copy control system for Blu-ray and HD DVD 
(and they did go far). Now Gutmann is reiterating his claims but also 
reportedly digging deep in his attacks on Microsoft. While Microsoft 
deserves some of the blame, the bigger story here is the technical 
nightmare created by AACS and how its tentacles are reaching into the 
consumer technology we all use daily. It's a shame that this is 
getting lost in the mix, but after discussing the issue with a 
journalist this weekend, I decided to delve a little more into it 
here.

Gutmann's presentation at this year's USENIX Security Symposium in 
Boston has been profiled at Network World. Gutmann's thesis is fairly 
basic and unchanged from last year: Microsoft spent way too many 
resources appeasing Hollywood when it should have been making Windows 
Vista better. Gutmann is essentially correct; any time a consumer 
electronics manufacturer or other technology company has to waste 
time with DRM, that company is wasting resources that could be better 
spent elsewhere if DRM wasn't a sad fact of life. Let no one doubt 
that. All of this attention focused on Microsoft is missing the 
bigger story, however.

...

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/aacs-tentacles.ars

 
 
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