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Revision as of 22:11, 4 May 2007

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The AACS encryption key controversy arose in April 2007 when the Motion Picture Association of America and the Advanced Access Content System License Authority (AACS LA) began issuing notices to websites publishing a 16-byte hexadecimal number, starting 09 F9 ..., which can allegedly be used as part of a method to circumvent the digital rights management on HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. The controversy escalated in early May 2007, when technology news site Digg received a notice and then removed numerous articles on the matter and banned users reposting the information.

Because the encryption key is not executable code but may nevertheless be a part of circumvention technology forbidden by the DMCA, it is being treated as an illegal number. Many people opposed to the expansion of intellectual property rights criticize the arguments as the banning of a particular number, which they feel should not and cannot be controlled by a single person or group.

History of AACS cracking

Commercial HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs integrate copy protection technology specified by the AACS LA. On 26 December 2006, a person using the alias muslix64 published a utility named BackupHDDVD and its source code for a working AACS decrypter on the DVD decryption forum at the website Doom9.org. The program is a tool which can be used to decrypt AACS protected content once one knows the encryption key. The user claimed to have found title and volume keys in main memory while playing HD DVD discs using a software player, and that finding them is not difficult.

On 2 January 2007, muslix64 published a new version of the program, with volume key support. Details of how to find other title and volume keys were revealed on 12 January 2007 by other doom9.org forum members who had also found the keys of several movies in RAM while running the WinDVD media player application.

The AACS system's revocation mechanism can be used to revoke a specific key after it is known to have been compromised, and this has been invoked for WinDVD. The compromised players can still be used to view old titles, but not newer releases without encryption keys for the compromised players. If other players are then cracked, further revocation would lead to legitimate users of compromised players being forced to upgrade or replace their player software or firmware in order to view new titles.

On or about 13 January 2007, a title key was posted on pastebin.com in form of a riddle, which was solved by entering terms into the Google search engine. By converting these results to hexadecimal, a correct key could be formed. Later that day, the first cracked HD DVD, Serenity, was uploaded on a private torrent tracker.

On 26 January 2007, the AACS LA confirmed that the encryption on high-definition DVDs had been bypassed. It has revoked the published key, which cannot now be used to decrypt AACS encrypted disks mastered after 23 April 2007.

On 11 February 2007, the user arnezami on doom9.org's forums found and published the now-infamous AACS processing key.

On 4 March 2007, the user jx6bpm on doom9.org's forums claimed to reveal CyberLink's PowerDVD's key, and that it was the key in use by AnyDVD.

DMCA notices and Digg

As early as 17 April 2007, AACS LA was issuing DMCA violation notices in an apparent attempt to suppress the encryption key. (The DMCA notice contains the encryption key in one of the URLs alleged to contain violating material, making publication of the notice itself a possible DMCA violation in the United States.) Following this, dozens of notices were sent to various websites hosted in the United States.

On 1 May 2007, in response to a DMCA violation notice, technology news site Digg began removing posts containing or alluding to the key and, in some cases, closing accounts which created those posts. The Digg community reacted by creating a flood of posts containing the key, many using creative ways of semi-directly or indirectly inserting the number, such as in song or images (either representing the digits pictorially or directly representing bytes from the key as colors) or on merchandise. At one point, Digg.com's "entire homepage was covered with links to the HD-DVD code or anti-Digg references." Eventually the Digg administrators reversed their position on such submissions, stating:

But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.

Lawyers and other representatives of the entertainment industry, including Michael Avery, an attorney for Toshiba Corporation, expressed surprise at Digg's decision, but suggested that a suit aimed at Digg might merely spread the information more widely.

If you try to stick up for what you have a legal right to do, and you're somewhat worse off because of it, that's an interesting concept

Other websites

In a response to the events occurring on Digg and the call to "Spread this number," the key was rapidly posted to thousands of pages across the Internet. As in the case of the DeCSS controversy, the key has been widely distributed in various forms, including YouTube music videos, doctored photographs, and T-shirts. As of Tuesday afternoon, May 1, 2007, a Google search for the key returned 9,410 results, while the same search the next morning returned nearly 300,000 results. On Friday, the BBC reported that a search on Google shows almost 899,000 pages have published the key.

Misplaced Pages also found itself embroiled in the controversy. The key itself, as well as details about its spread across the Internet, were added to hundreds of pages on the various Wikipedias. Some articles were restricted from editing in an effort to prevent posting of the key and the key was added to the Wikimedia spam filter.

Impact

These events have been likened to the Streisand effect, in that when attempts at censorship were made both by the Digg website through article removal and through the internet as a whole through the use of DMCA violation notices, people responded through civil disobedience and posted the encryption key. Widespread news coverage included speculation on the development of user driven websites, the perception of acceptance of DRM, and the legal liability of running a user driven website.

AACS LA reaction

The AACS LA has so far not officially responded on their website regarding the controversy. BBC News however has quoted an AACS executive saying: Bloggers "crossed the line" and it was looking at "legal and technical tools" to confront those who published the key and that the events involving Digg were an "interesting new twist." Several US-based news sources have run stories containing the key, quoting its use on Digg , though none are known to have received DMCA notices as a result.

References

1. "AACS licensor complains of posted key". Chilling Effects. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
2. Muslix64 (26 December 2006). "BackupHDDVD, a tool to decrypt AACS protected movies". Doom9's Forum. Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. Intel Corporation (2006-07-25). "Advanced Access Content System (AACS)" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
4. "HD DVD Content Protection already hacked?". TechAmok. 2006-12-28. Retrieved 2007-01-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. Muslix64 (2 January 2007). "BackupHDDVD, a tool to decrypt AACS protected movies". Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. "AACS key revoked". 26 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. "kad77" (13 January 2007). "Decryption Keys For HD-DVD Found, Confirmed". Slashdot. Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. Reimer, Jeremy (January 15, 2007). "First pirated HD DVD movie hits BitTorrent". Ars Technica.
9. "Hi-def DVD security is bypassed". BBC. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "HD DVD, Blu-ray protection in question after attacks". Yahoo. 16 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. arnezami (11 February 2007). "Processing Key, Media Key and Volume ID found!!!". Doom9's Forums. Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. jx6bpm (3 March 2007). "PowerDVD private key". Doom9's Forums. Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
13. "DMCA Takedown Notice". 17 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. "AACS Takedowns Backfire". 1 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "Digg.com Attempts To Suppress HD-DVD Revolt". 1 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. Andy Greenberg (May 02, 2007), Digg's DRM Revolt, Forbes {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. Kevin Rose (2007-05-01). "Digg This: [key redacted by Misplaced Pages]". Digg the Blog. Digg Inc. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
18. "DVD DRM row sparks user rebellion". BBC. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. Marcus Yam (May 2, 2007), AACS Key Censorship Leads to First Internet Riot
20. Alex Pham (3 May 2007). "User rebellion at Digg.com unearths a can of worms". Los Angeles Times (latimes.com). Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
21. Alex Pham (3 May 2007). "User rebellion at Digg.com unearths a can of worms". Los Angeles Times (latimes.com). Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
22. "Spread this number". 30 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. ^ Stone, Brad (2007-05-02). "In Web Uproar, Antipiracy Code Spreads Wildly". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-05-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
24. "Photoshop Rebels Rip Great HD DVD Clampdown". Wired News. 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2007-05-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
25. Thomas Claburn (2 May 2007). "HD DVD Blu-Ray Decryption Key Widely Posted Online". Information Week. Dark Reading. Retrieved 2007-05-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
26. Nick Farrell (2 May 2007). "09 f9 is the number they tried to ban". The Inquirer. Retrieved 2007-05-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
27. ^ Darren Waters (4 May 2007). "DRM group vows to fight bloggers". BBC. Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
28. Tim Starling (2 May 2007). "HD DVD key and the spam blacklist". WikiEN-L mailing list. Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
29. Mike Masnick. "AACS Discovers The Streisand Effect: The More You Try To Suppress Something, The More Attention It Gets". Retrieved 2007-05-03.
30. Forbes, CNet, BBC, Financial Times, Associated Press
31. Verne Kopytoff. "User revolt at Digg.com shows risks of Web 2.0". Retrieved 2007-05-03.
32. John Carroll. "A Digg riot and AACS". Retrieved 2007-05-03.
33. Tom Spring. "Mob's Win is Digg's Loss". Retrieved 2007-05-03.
34. Buchanan, Matt (2007-05-02). "Breaking: Digg Riot in Full Effect Over Pulled HD-DVD Key Story". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
35. Berger, Adam (2007-05-02). "HD-DVD cracked, Digg users causes an uproar". Gadgetell. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
36. Beal, Andy (2007-05-02). "Rose Hands Over Digg Control". WebProNews. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
37. Lane, Frederick (2007-05-02). "Digg This: Web 2.0, Censorship 0". Newsfactor.com. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
38. Singel, Ryan (2007-05-03). "HD DVD Battle Stakes Digg Against Futility of DRM". Wired News. Retrieved 2007-05-03.

External links

• Doom9 forums, original focus of the controversy
• 09 f9: A Legal Primer — Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

• Current events from April 2007
• Digital Rights Management
• DVD
• History of cryptography
• Internet memes
• Key management