Cinavia Anti-Piracy System “Blocked” By AnyDVD

Andy
March 13, 2013
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Without entering too deeply into the technical details, the Cinavia anti-piracy system relies on a special type of watermarking which enables it to stay resident in a recording despite re-recording in the digital or analog domain, transcoding, compression, or other type of transfer.

Since 2012 the ability to detect Cinavia signals has been a mandatory feature of all Blu-ray players.

In the Blu-ray environment Cinavia can recognize whether a disc being played has a “theatrical release” watermark. If it does then it knows that the audio was recorded illegally. It can also recognize if a disc has been copied from an original Blu-ray.

The end result is that playing or copying of an unauthorized disc is eventually disabled by the player, be it a hardware Blu-ray player such as the one present in a Playstation 3 for example, or a software based player commonly loaded onto a PC.

However, a few days ago software company Slysoft released an update to its popular AnyDVD software which hinted in its changelog that Cinavia had been at least partially thwarted.

New: Option to disable Cinavia detection when using AnyDVD with ArcSoft TMT 5.3, TMT 6.0 or PowerDVD 12

After installation, users confirmed that the new feature worked as advertised. Had Slysoft really cracked Cinavia?

Intrigued, TorrentFreak caught up with the company for a comment.

“We haven’t really cracked anything,” they told us. “We simply disable the software player’s ability to see the trigger when AnyDVD is running and doing the Cinavia muting as built into their product.”

So rather than a wholesale crack this seems to be more of a workaround for now, but apparently greater things are on the horizon.

“As far as a global ‘stop’ when playing a burned BD copy we are a long way from that. We are working on a solution to defeat Cinavia in connection with our pending product Slyce since AnyDVD can not do this, but this will not happen until later in the year,” Slysoft concludes.

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Rekrul

Freeware software players, such as Media Player Classic do NOT look for or act upon the Cinavia watermark. Only commercial programs obey this crap.
- http://profiles.google.com/zerianis10 Christopher Kidwell
  
  Which is why I will never use a commercial program that obeys that.
- Jeebus
  
  You have to wonder why people will buy BluRay discs and commercial BluRay players that are infested with such intrusive DRM? These big media companies certainly aren’t helping their case by using such draconian DRMs.
  
  If I buy a BluRay disc, I will make a copy and share it with all my friends and family. Big Content cannot forbid me to share my property. If I can’t do that, you can be rest assured I will be downloading a DRM-free copy from TPB instead and that way I can make unlimited copies and distribute to whoever I like.
  - PiRat
    
    It’s about control.
    
    The amount of people circumventing the system simply acts a measurement as to how far we are from world totalitarian governance.
  - http://earth-616.com/ KurianOfBorg
    
    What? This has NO effect on original Blu-ray discs whatsoever. Only pirated copies are effected. This is the most effective DRM ever made in history.
    - John H
      
      The audio stream is modified and degraded (analog encoding scheme for the digital Cinavia code), though this affects all copies, including the theatrical releases. It’s like putting a logo watermark in the corner of the video. I’m not sure about you, but I really dislike paying for content that’s intentionally degraded.
      
      It also affects copies that fall under fair use and are thus legal, not “pirated”. All to prevent a practice that comprises a tiny amount of the copyright violation that goes on.
- Ninja
  
  But what about computer blu-ray hardware? I’m largely ignorant to this because I simply refuse to buy broken stuff (which DRMed things are).
  - Who
    
    bluray drives for a computer do not have Cinavia like the stand alone bluray players that plug in to your tv.
    - Jason Hall
      
      Cyberlink PowerDVD does. Believe it or not.
    - Emmett
      
      HEY MORON, he said DRIVES, not programs. powerdvd is a PROGRAM
- JamesTagusLan
  
  exactly. there are so great and sometimes even better free options. why pay!?!
- UniversalSoldier
  
  My TV has a USB port through which I can attach my hard disk and watch movies. I never faced any problem. Good that I did not buy a BluRay player.
JT

Media Player Classic can’t play Blu Ray discs. You have to decrypt first and even after that setting up the filters is pain in the ass.
- Anyone
  
  that’s why you download BluRay rips instead of buying the disc
- Shogunreaper
  
  MPC plays blu-ray disks fine, as long as you don’t mind not having menus.
  - Jeebus
    
    Why would I need a fucking menu to watch a movie? I click on a movie and it starts playing. Why make it anymore complex than it has to be?
    - Shogunreaper
      
      To navigate through extras maybe? Or to change the audio, turn on subtitles.
    - Jeebus
      
      I can do all that through MPC-HC. Still don’t see why I need a menu for those functions.
  - John H
    
    That it does; also, VidoeLAN has been developing a Blu-Ray playback library (no decryption, though on-the-fly decryption can be added with existing DLLs or handled by something like AnyDVD) that had limited support for menus the last time I tried it.
kevinkaram

This article is wrong. Slysoft solution totally doesn’t work….it crashes my PowerDVD
- IDIOCRACY
  
  That is because cyberlink programs suck, buggy and crashing when loading normal Mpg into director or producer for example.. the best Power DVD (that still works with this Slysoft solution) is version 5ne which was released in a bundle with a HDD video-camera of JVC, it plays also standard without extra codecs, the MOV made by the camera…and various other formats.
  
  The downside is that it installed a spyware program as well, however this was after installation easily removed with spybot.
  So old is sometimes better than new… hehe
Anonymous

VLC Media Player does not disable audio on anything.
- Anonymous_1
  
  I see we use the same media player.
- http://earth-616.com/ KurianOfBorg
  
  You can’t watch 3D Blu-rays or decode Dolby TrueHD.
PirateSoldier

I use smplayer for everything. It even remembers what point in a dvd you were at if you have to close it for any reason
- Smplayer
  
  Smplayers my fave, i have an mintbox connected to the tv with 2 2tb drives. Plenty of space and 0 issues playing 1080p/10bit etc.
Pingback: Cinavia Anti-Piracy System “Blocked” By AnyDVD
ayman

Who buys original bluray disks will definitely buy commercial software, so Cinavia is not an issue, and those who own non original copies (that will be for sure non-encrypted) will look for free players like mplayer mpc-hc, potplayer,…etc
So the whole cinavia protection is unnecessary!
- http://profiles.google.com/zerianis10 Christopher Kidwell
  
  Exactly right. It has been pointed out on NUMEROUS occasions that these ‘protections’ only harm the actual legitimate paying customers, who if one thing goes wrong in the fucking ‘chain of trust’, they cannot watch their legally bought movie, tv show, etc.
- Rob
  
  I disagree. I buy physical movies so it’s easier for my kids to grab a disc and pop it in the blu-ray player. I have never paid for a commercial player for a computer, I use built-ins or VLC.
- pickpickyumyum
  
  I gotta disagree too – I’ve got quite a few physical copies of movies because I really love those particular movies.
  
  And yet.. I’ve never and have no intention of paying for a player when there are loads of brilliant free and open source ones to choose from.
  
  No disconnect there…
  
  And besides.. Cinavia only blocks *COPIED* disks. When was the last time you burnt a disk…. of a movie??!?!?!?!?
  
  USB sticks are for sharing.
  
  HDMI cables are for watching.
  
  It’s the 21st century, kids!
- Jason Hall
  
  I bought a copy of “Seven Psychopaths.” (Blu-Ray version). I copied it and tried to watch the copy. That must make me a criminal. I, personally, keep the original in their case as to prevent damage. Who cares if the copy gets damaged?
ItsTheSasquatch

This kind of thing is why I don’t watch movies anymore, let alone buy them. If I wanted a malware-infested, barely functional file, I’d get it on the internet for free. Sad thing is, the cracked internet version usually works -better-.
- http://profiles.google.com/zerianis10 Christopher Kidwell
  
  Actually, you are LESS likely to get a malware-infested file on the open internet or TPB than by buying a Blu-Ray in a store.
  - Jack Deth
    
    Yes, remember the joy that was Sony infesting their audio CD’s with a rootkit. A rootkit that got installed even if a user decided not to install any software from the audio CD once inserted into computer.
puddipuddi

Once cinavia hit ps3, I built an htpc with 7tb’s of space and switched to the x264 quality I was missing out on (instead of the crappy 720p xvids I was streaming to the ps3).

All cinavia did for me was make me upgrade from crappy xvid blurays to lossless x264 remuxes. I used to buy blurays, but that htpc cost me a few bucks, so now I just grab those 30gb – 40gb remuxes and enjoy my dts-hd sound without a hassle, thanks media player classic!
- Flozac
  
  Lmfao dude srsly wtf? i have a WD media player cost me $200 a few years ago and it supports any format and also DTS and Dolby. and it has USB 3.0 for heavy bluray files. i suggest get some money and buy a media player :) it’s built for that
  - Jeebus
    
    Who are you laughing at? My $35 Raspberry Pi plays both xvid and x264 in all its 1080p glory and possibly a horde of other formats I don’t need. I use my android smartphone as a remote controller for the Pi. The Pi also acts as a NAS and 24×7 BT seedbox.
    
    Why waste money on locked down commercial DRMware when a $35 computer can do it all and then some more?
    - Jeebus400K
      
      Interesting, not that I doubt Raspberry Pi’s ability to act as an server, or even lowres mediaplayer, what I’ve observed it’s ability to playback 1080p is not so perfect. And how about those 10 bit movies?
  - Anyone
    
    you don’t get 7TB storage for $200
    - IDIOCRACY
      
      No but you do get 6TB (USB3.0) for 198 euros, and that is close enough. hehe
- Shogunreaper
  
  You really know nothing about the media player that the ps3 is. The only thing it can’t play is MKVs, anything else it plays perfectly fine.
  
  I have no idea why you were limiting yourself to 720p xvid files, thats laughable, i play untouched blu-ray remuxes (from mkv to mp4) easily
  
  You can also use multiavchd and create an avchd disk that will play off a usb drive, essentially creating a full blu-ray with menus and everything.
  - Ninja
    
    I find 720p to be indistinguishable from 1080p for the regular PC screen. I only download 1080p content if I plan to watch in a 40” tv or larger in my living room (it’s pretty small so you stay closer to the screen than one would like). It all depends on your needs. The only thing I care about getting the best quality is the audio.
Andrew Lee

Eventually everyone will have a PC connected to their television eliminating the need for disk period.
I already have a alright system hooked to mine and a wireless connection for my gaming rig.

It’s not something that is very costly to do anymore and everyone should be doing it. I could understand not doing it 15 years ago but not in today’s world.
- downunder
  
  actually you dont need to do that.. most tvs have dlna media server playback.. just install serviio free media server and let it transcode if need be to any tv or supported device.. smart tvs just need wifi or wirred lan with 1gigbit in the house no need to use a hdmi setup now days
  - icec0ld
    
    Urgh, I’ve never found a good one tho. I mash the controller and get Tanker Ship control like response rates on the interface. I prefer just throwing my compy into the TV.
- marxmarv
  
  Oh really? Maybe amongst otaku, but mainstream users are and will be quite happy to have everything plugging right into their TV/receivers even if DLNA servers still mostly suck.
fortuzero

Blue what? Whatever.
- Gene Poole
  
  yeah bro, those are those bdrip things.
Guest

DRM is a crime!
dafe

VLC FOR LIFE
frank

Where’s a blue ray hardware reverse engineering community when you need one…
chaps

DVDfab did this at 2011
Guest

I had this shit when trying to watch Looper (crappy movie, by the way) on PS3.

It was easily bypassable by setting the clock forward 1h whenever it muted the audio.
- Charlie
  
  Looper crappy? No. Just your taste in movies . smh.
  - goober
    
    Taste in movies in question? Actually, Looper IS a pretty lame movie. Most movies that deal with the cause and effect of time travel screw up pretty bad. The very idea of time traveling back into the past is a fail in itself because it gives rise to so many paradoxes. Of course, the people who don’t have the mental ability to comprehend even little bit of it are able to blissfully ignore it. Then there are others who can enjoy the movie anyways even if they know the logic doesn’t add up. I’m not one of those people.
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Yosuf Ochenko

Jeebus, do you have any idea what you just said?

What right do you think you have making multiple copies of your purchased blu-ray or dvd and distributing these copies to your family and friends?

If making a backup is ‘legal’ in your country, then that sole backup (read: 1 only) is to be used by you and you alone.

Did you purchase multiple copies of this retail blu-ray? No, you did not. Then get off your delusional train wreck and use some common sense. Just because you bought 1 copy, does not entitle you to make as many as you like.

It’s not your property by the way, there’s where you are completely wrong.
- joexxx
  
  Common sense, that you’re referring to, will tell you that you can make all the copies you want.
- marxmarv
  
  The disc certainly is the poster’s property, regardless of the disposition of the content that may be on it. For those of you not being paid to not follow along, SCOTUS reaffirmed that fact earlier this very week.
  - http://twitter.com/aidianz Aidian Holder
    
    nah, that case involved books re-imported from overseas, and upheld the right of first sale (I bought something, I have right to resell it, and the person who sold it to me can’t say shit).
    
    In the case of a disc/download/whatever you are legally buying a license to use the content on the disc. The terms of that license are fairly restrictive — no public performance, no transmission, broadcast or transmittal (which includes transmitting it to someone who didn’t buy a license by burning them a copy).
    
    Under the license you’re allowed to make as many copies as you want, you just can’t do anything with them. Under the DMCA breaking even the weakest copy protection to make those legal copies is a crime.
    
    I’m not saying you shouldn’t pirate. Not the point. I am suggesting you shouldn’t believe that the law permits you to do so.
    
    Also, unless drives have gotten a ton faster, I’m not burning anyone a disk unless I owe ‘em or she’s giving me head — takes way to long. Give me a jump drive and I’ll hook you up, but I don’t have all day.
Borland C++

Lol, you goofballs. Nobody wants to build a Home theater PC with multiple drives, load up their movies and hook it up to their tv. Except for the minority: you.

Unless it’s plug and play like a stand alone blu-ray player, it’s not going to happen for the masses.
By masses, I mean the people that actually make a dent in sales figures unlike you cheapskates.
- joexxx
  
  You’re wrong. A lot of people do.
  - marxmarv
    
    “a lot of people” << "the masses"
joexxx

>In the Blu-ray environment Cinavia can recognize whether a disc being >played has a “theatrical release” watermark. If it does then it knows that >the audio was recorded illegally.

How does it know it was recorded illegally What if I recorded it with permission and then I’m playing it back?
joexxx

Cinavia type schemes are easily defeated by a simple FFT operation.
- fish sauce
  
  Elaborate, please.
  
  Even so, how can it detect if it is a copy or not. A copy is a copy of the original nothing changed or removed so is there some special data that is not copied?
  
  What about the audio quality. This must mess with that.
  
  Sigh These uneducated greedy assholes never.
  
  What is next, A special id tag in every X frames of the video?
  
  Reducing the quality even more. People will run to free version if this continues.
  
  I would never buy something with inferior quality which is why i do not buy stuff infected with DRM.
bno112300

What I’m more interested in is how I can use some of this tech.
Supposedly it has something to do with the sound being echoed, with a smaller delay than humans can detect, but I doubt that.

If I were able to produce the audio watermark, I’d play it in public whenever a film was being shot so they couldn’t sell the footage in homes.
ZonHotel

Quote:

“”So, an image created with the new AnyDVD will still trigger Cinavia on a standalone unit like the PS3.”"
HAYOUTHINKSO

DRM IS A CRIME AND IS BS. If i want to steal i will FUCK everyone
http://ms1.gotdns.com/ ClintonsTart

they can suk my blu-rod.
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rudies

using dvd fab to burn a blu ray disc -’ main movie ‘only – was found to disable cinavia for playback on stand alone 2012 blu ray players.

apparently if the full disc feature was used, the player was able to read the ‘watermark ‘ and disable playback.
you won’t get all the disc features, but you will be able to play sony movies. besides you have a less compressed movie in the long run.

tried ‘ takers’ and ‘ here comes the boom ‘ and was successful.
have backed up most of my 300+ blu rays already

rudies
http://www.facebook.com/adam.rose.35110418 Adam Rose

Fengtao Software Inc cracked Cinavia over a year ago! I’ve found the chips manufacture for Cinavia and it’s just a simple disconnect the power pin off the signal transmitter that disables the audio or playback function. It’s a very easy hack!
Purplecds

Hello Adam. Would you be able to ellborate on your cinavia hack?
A guy

This is stupid. Why this cinavia have to even bother on this dvd/cd. That company is just a bunch of freaks who like to disturb someone movie, I pay for this movie and this stupid code just come out in front of my face. like I want to punch it off.

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