Warner Bros and Intel Sue Over HDCP Crack Piracy

Ernesto
December 20, 2012
146
Legal Issues
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Warner Bros. and Intel’s daughter company Digital Content Protection have filed a lawsuit against a hardware manufacturer that creates devices enabling consumers to bypass HDCP copy protection. The devices, which presumably use the leaked HDCP master key to convert digital to analog signals, can be useful for connecting digital devices to analog displays. However, they could also be used by pirates to copy pay-per-view, on-demand, and other premium content.

Two years ago there was a huge uproar in the tech community when the HDCP master key was cracked, opening the door to mass circumvention of high-definition content protection.

The crack was Hollywood’s worst nightmare as it opens an “analog hole” that allows everyone to copy digital video, including pay-per-view streams. Intel, the developers of HDCP, were also outraged and promised to crack down on abusers of the key.

“There are laws to protect both the intellectual property involved as well as the content that is created and owned by the content providers. Should a circumvention device be created using this information, we and others would avail ourselves, as appropriate, of those remedies,” Intel warned.

Soon after the master key was published the first circumvention devices were put on the market but neither Intel or the Hollywood studios took any action against manufacturers or retailers. That position has now changed.

Yesterday Warner Bros. and Intel’s daughter company Digital Content Protection filed a lawsuit at a federal court in Ohio against the technology company Freedom USA and its CEO Alex Sonis. The Hollywood studio and the chip maker accuse the Ohio company of copyright infringement and violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions.

Freedom USA, which also operates under the names AVADirect and AntaresPro, makes several devices which allow consumers to convert HDCP-encrypted digital signals to analog signals. This means that users could potentially record pay-per-view broadcasts, including Hollywood movies.

“Warner Bros. requires the use of HDCP in many of its distribution licenses for pay-per-view, video-on-demand and other premium digital content delivery services to which Warner Bros. licenses its film and television programming,” the movie studio writes in the complaint.

According to Warner the bypassing of HDCP leads to more pirated copies being made available, which in turn decreases the demand for legal movies.

“When HDCP is circumvented, the risk of unauthorized copying and redistribution of the content formerly protected by HDCP is dramatically increased,” Warner Bros. writes.

“This damages Warner Bros. because the unauthorized and uncompensated reproduction and distribution of Warner Bros. copyrighted content decreases the demand for such content through legitimate distribution channels, such as home video, video-on-demand, premium broadcast channels and the like.”

The defendant is accused of selling devices that allow for this circumvention. Although the earlier referenced leaked master key is not mentioned, the complaint does explain that the devices are capable of decrypting HDCP.

“The [device] transmits HDCP-protected content to non-HDCP devices by performing HDCP decryption, without the authorization of either the copyright owner of the HDCP-protected content or DCP, and by avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating, and/or impairing the HDCP authentication process,” the complaint reads.

Both Warner Bros. and Intel accuse Freedom USA of violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, and the movie studio also holds the company responsible for the copyright infringements that were induced by these devices.

Both plaintiffs ask the court to prohibit these devices from being sold and want to be compensated for the damages they’ve suffered.

Considering the ongoing debate on the legality of these circumvention devices for fair use, this case is going to be one to watch. Aside from the “piracy” element brought up in the complaint the devices sold by Freedom USA also have legitimate uses, such as connecting a new set-top box to an older TV or monitor.

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Soon our bloody eyeballs will have some form of MAFIAA encryption tech.
- SomeYahoo
  
  INFRINGER! AVERT THINE EYES! or we have them ripped out of your skull
  - Free_Country
    
    The new [fiction] released by Warner Bros will be “Free USA”.
    - Guest
      
      “The product you requested is no longer available.”
      
      Pussies.
    - Linus Torvalds
      
      Fuck HDCP, fuck Warner Bros, fuck Hollywood, fuck MPAA, fuck MAFIAA.
      
      Fuck ‘em all – the dirty rotten scoundrels.
- JordanKratz
  
  Hollywood says “BLAH BLAH BLAH”
  Consumers say “FUCK YOU MAFIAA”
  
  Boycott the MAFIAA !
  Support Non-MAFIAA Entertainment with your wallet instead.
  - Sack
    
    I’ve just put together a 12 hour playlist of tunes to listen to at work or in the car.
    
    Not one song is from a major label and I’m proud and happy to say I’ve put money in the pocket of almost all the artists (either through buying the music or gigs or merch).
    
    Oh, and it’s a fucking awesome playlist.
    
    Download some free podcasts and find your own music – don’t let yourself be spoon-fed the same shitty songs every day by the same cartel that produced the songs in the first place.
  - ITakeAPotatoChipAndEatIt
    
    Hollywood says “BLAH BLAH BLAH”
    Consumers say “FUCK YOU MAFIAA”
    
    Hahaha, I don’t know why but that’s funny, probably because its true.
    - Predator
      
      You are going to laugh:
      
      I got ride of my cable service 4 years ago because it is part of my boycott.
  - Guest321
    
    Honestly this is getting ridiculous. Sue this sue that, that’s the only news coming from America these days. While people are shooting each other corporations are busy suing each other and the consumers too. USA has gone completely nuts.
    
    I expected better from Intel though. Being a hardware manufacturer I didn’t expect them to stick their nose into this.
    - Anyone
      
      they hold the HDCP patent, so they have to get involved if there is a lawsuit
      
      WB probably pays them handsomely for their trouble
    - Guest
      
      Who are the assholes at the head of Warner Bros and Intel?
      
      Let’s shoot them both.
  - Anonymous
    
    Associations like RIAA, BREIN, TTVK, and so forth are more of a public enemy. They drive people bankrupt, to exile, or jail them for years, so they deserve all the hate.
- Fuck
  
  Damn don’t get them good ideas like that. They might see future potential in it
- Predator
  
  And Freedom USA is a very subversive name you know.
- guess who
  
  check this for fucked up: microsoft is watchign you.
  microsoft has patented a ‘consumer detector’ that use a camera or kinect to see how many people are in a room, allowing companies to charge for rentals and pay-per-view based on how many are watching. at least the fact we don’t have any friends is doing us some good.
  
  i found that in the latest edition of stuff magazine.
  
  now a whole can of questions and legal implications arrise from this, to my mind the most pressing is this: INVASION OF PRIVACY. the whole fucking thing must surely be illegal.
  - Guest321
    
    Nothing is illegal when the big corps do it. The laws only apply to the little man.
    - guess who
      
      if i ever buy a tv with built in camera or microphone, they’ll be disabled as soon as i get it home. i realy do not like where tv’s are headed with this internet connectivity they’re now pushing.
  - joexxx
    
    I’m filing a patent right now that allows a consumer to project a big middle finger on the image sent to Microsoft from Kinect.
    Novel, useful, non-trivial to a person skilled in the art – > thus patentable.
- Anonymous
  
  NSFW.
guess

“According to Warner the bypassing of HDCP leads to more pirated copies being made available, which in turn decreases the demand for legal movies.”

Might as well sue every bluray/dvd/cd company that creates ripping software(including microsoft).
- Wallace
  
  Sunny days also decrease the demand for legal movies.
  
  SUN=THEFT
  - SomeYahoo
    
    AIR is required to be able to watch/use/listen to legal content!
    
    but PIRATES BREATHE AIR without watching/using/listening to our content
    
    AIR IS THEFT
- Junk
  
  May as well sue Microsoft for providing the platform for the software and hardware that was created to rip movies and allow people to copy movies wonder why they haven’t gone that route
  - Windlasher
    
    Because MS doesn’t provide decryption software. The ability to rip a non protected DVD is quite different that the ability to decode and copy an encrypted one.
    - Anyone
      
      does Windows Mediaplayer count?
    - Nejtillpirater
      
      Is it you Nejtillpirater?
      
      Yes it is!
    - guess
      
      Actually they do provide software(windows media player) to rip a protected cd.
    - Windlasher
      
      OK, what I mean to say is WMP will not COPY an encrypted DVD. OK?
  - Guess
    
    Microsoft windows gives you windows media player.
    
    The big feature?
    Rip any store bought cd in a few button clicks.
    
    Time to sue them?
    - Windlasher
      
      Windows Media Player will not Decrypt a protected DVD.
    - Nerd
      
      “Windows Media Player will not Decrypt a protected DVD.”
      
      Of course it will. How can it play the DVD if it doesnt not.
  - one
    
    Lets sue the pc makers
    - two
      
      sue intel for providing parts
    - Nejtillpirater
      
      Ha! My ship is an AMD. It is faster.
  - magpieGRL
    
    Nejtillpirater has been blacklisted and banned from TF.
Anyone

can’t those morons just stop using DRM?
clearly it doesn’t do anything except annoy customers
- henreeG
  
  me gusta
- Brown Nose Shill
  
  I think a better way of preventing ‘movie piracy’ would be to release movies only at the movie theatres. DVD’s, Blu-Ray’s, streaming over the net will only result in someone somewhere copying and sharing for free. Much better to only show movies in movie theatres where all watching would be subjected to strip searches on the way in to prevent cameras being smuggled in to record the movie. I for one would happily under go a full strip search before seeing a movie knowing that it helps protect the content creaters financial income. I would even be happy to have a full cavity search to prove I’m not a pirate trying to smuggle in a (small) camera.
  
  Everyone accepts being invasively searched and scanned at airports to help protect against those that hate our freedoms. I don’t think the public will take much convincing of the need to restrict the showing of movies exclusively at theatres and for strip/cavity searches on the way in to help protect the profits of the move companies.
  
  I believe we the public should be standing up for the rights of the movie companies. They work tirelessly to bring us entertainment. Let’s show them we care by stripping to prove we are not nasty pirates. Who’s with me on this?
  - Anyone
    
    not sure if that is sarcasm or not
    - Masau Fuku
      
      Given that his username is “brown nose shill” I think it’s safe to assume it’s a joke aimed at pro-copyright trolls.
  - markh
    
    You want a stripsearch, hmmmz kinky
    - guess who
      
      i asked the very good lookin’ blonde swedish security bird when leaving sweden to fly back to england if i could be strip searched by her. she just looked at me and let me through security :(
  - smeg
    
    Hows the irony… “Everyone accepts being invasively searched and scanned at airports to help protect against those that hate our freedoms. ”
    - ITakeAPotatoChipAndEatIt
      
      That’s the whole idea. (^_-)
  - SomeYahoo
    
    you heard it here first folks, the future has been predicted!
  - Predator
    
    I wonder who would put a movie in his butt save for the Hollywood executives who are all pederasts.
    
    I think this is Sarcasm.
  - Universal Soldier
    
    How about they ban clothes to be worn when going to watch a movie. Something like a nude beach. So if the movie is boring, ppl can be entertained by other sources. This would definitely increase the sale of movie tickets too.
  - Syborg
    
    Let’s strip for uncle sam, cause he is the man!
- SomeYahoo
  
  they have a deathwish
  
  or, they won’t be happy until they can create the MAFIAATRIX where we are all slaves plugged into a machine that forces us to live in a virtual reality made up of hollywood movies and pop star tunes!
  - YourYahoo
    
    Oh, you’ve watched the X-Factor then huh? ;)
- Windlasher
  
  It stops the majority of people from copying DVDs. Actually The Pirates to Computer Users ratio is actually quite low.
GoingPostal13

These people know you can point a video camera at a TV right?
- blue_bomber
  
  Not always true. You could always point a video and mic at a television, but signal modulation DRM techniques could affect the recording. Moreover, see Cinavia for details of an in-band DRM system.
  
  The analog hole is shrinking, both as a legal workaround and as a justification for DRM creep.
Steve Smith

Um how is this different from the analog ports on the back of HD box’s right now? i guess fact support for them has been dropped is why this is happening now.
- Guest
  
  They are fighting to drop the analog ports on these devices thus closing the analog hole.
  - Sir
    
    Don’t worry. When they try this mistreat their customers someone is bound to open up their “analog hole” and teach them a lesson.
    - SomeYahoo
      
      “someone is bound to open up their “analog hole” and teach them a lesson.”
      
      hopefully with a rocket launcher
    - SomeYahoo
      
      or a rusty cactus
    - ITakeAPotatoChipAndEatIt
      
      Fire in the Analog-Hole ??*
- blue_bomber
  
  The analog outputs of an HDCP device transmit at much lower quality.
  - Who
    
    HDCP is for HDMI ports and DVI only. the 15 pin D sub analog port does not support HDCP and nether does the RCA RGB component jacks nor the AV RCA red/yellow/white nor the coax RF ports.
    - blue_bomber
      
      HDCP is digital DRM, so what you said is true, it doesn’t apply to analog signals, *but* what I said is also true: Typically if a device has both HDMI and analog outputs, the analog outputs will not output a signal with the same quality as that of the HDCP-controlled HDMI output.
      
      Moreover, a signal does not necessarily lack DRM due to being analog: See Cinavia, for example.
    - Who
      
      @blue_bomber: Cinavia is a HD only protection that is picked up by the main hardware. DVI/VGA/RCA/componet has nothing to do with it. ONLY port effected is HDMI. cinavia is not present in Dolby digital/DTS via coxal or optical sound in/outputs.
    - blue_bomber
      
      @Who: If what you claim about Cinavia is true (it probably isn’t), it is only as a matter of practice, but not theory, and certainly not intent. The point of DRM systems like Cinavia that “infect” a signal is that the strain of DRM will survive translations of the signal, even to analog from digital. I can increasingly easily imagine a future in which software distributors are required to write decoding software that respects such in-signal DRM systems, whether or not they are dealing with HDMI or hardware at all.
- Danny
  
  My PC doesn’t output HDCP so its all gravy!
Man

lo they dont have another stuff to do ? pointless action.but i guess they need to show how they fight …

anyway bunch of idiots. you can record from any othere device from top mark lol
- guess who
  
  “lo they dont have another stuff to do ? pointless action.but i guess they need to show how they fight …”
  
  like whiney bitches fighting over a man who’s fuckin’ ‘em both up the kyber pass.
Anonymous

it doesn’t matter that there are legitimate uses for anything. when there is a use that the entertainment industries dont like, simply because they would lose money or have to innovate by having some other form of prevention, it will be stopped. i can see already the lobbyists queuing up and throwing money at politicians like men with no arms! in turn, the politicians will ignore everything else, have pockets at the ready and be grabbing ankles to keep the industries happy whilst screwing the people yet again!! must keep the government enforced monopoly going, mustn’t we!
- Guest
  
  Look at what happened when the VCR came out, someone tried to sue to stop that because they said it could be used for piracy, The same thing happened when the CD recorder and then DVD recorder came out and look what happened. Now it’s happening all over again. Anything that is legal and lawful in use will always be consider as a use for facilitating piracy and sued to the hilt to prevent and terminate from existing if the MAFFIA finds just one small thing that could be used for piracy.
  - guess
    
    They should be suing microsoft for letting me rip cd after cd using windows media player.
    
    So a KEY was leaked. Why not CHANGE it then? IDIOTS.
    - BoboBohannon
      
      Changing the key would cause problems with all devices that won’t work with updated keys, and I’m sure that’s millions upon millions of devices.
    - Anyone
      
      it is the master key
      it can create new keys
      releasing new keys is pointless, HDCP has been solved
Who

OMFG when are these FUCK HEADS gona learn that US copyright LAW does NOT say that you are NOT allowed to make a fucking copy of a copyrighted works.
the MPAA even has the GOD DAM FUCKING US COPYRIGHT LAW quoted right on there GOD DAM web site.
- Heisenberg7
  
  MOTHERFUCKING GODAMN SONOFABITCH!
  - ITakeAPotatoChipAndEatIt
    
    (?°?°??? ???
- Ophelia Millais
  
  Uh, well, I don’t think HDCP circumvention is immoral, but sadly, it is illegal. Contrary to what you believe, what the GOD DAM FUCKING US COPYRIGHT LAW says is that the copyright owners have “exclusive” rights to copy, distribute, etc. So while it’s correct that the law isn’t phrased in such a way as to say “you” are not allowed to make fucking copies, this is really just splitting hairs, because the law does say that pretty much only the FUCK HEADS are allowed to make copies of the works they own (17 USC 106). Most everyone else (with certain exceptions and limitations defined in 17 USC 107-116), if they make copies, are “infringers” of those exclusive rights, and are subject to rather nasty penalties (17 USC 504-506), with some limitations (17 USC 507-513). Look it up.
  - Who
    
    I did and YOU need to RE-READ it.
  - Who
    
    I am sorry let me rephrase this. the US copy right law does say that the rights owner does have all exclusive rights to there WORKS. yes this means that they can make as many copy’s as they want. BUT as far as distribution goes that falls under a different law. it ALSO says that the copy right holder CAN NOT claim copyright infringement unless 3 things happen. and copy/distribution is NOT listed. so as I stated before RE-READ IT
    
    it sound as if you are also quoting the DMCA witch BTW is out dated and hasn’t been updated i a wile. to find out what the real law says look up US copyright law.
    - Ophelia Millais
      
      Well, we’re straying from the topic of HDCP circumvention, but I suggest you consult with a lawyer with your theories about how the DMCA is invalid because hasn’t been updated in a while, and how copyright law doesn’t cover distribution, and see how far you get. The reality is that the DMCA is used against people every day because it’s current law. And the law says, in two places, that the copyright owner’s exclusive right of publication explicitly includes distribution. This, too, is used against people & companies every day in courts throughout the land.
      
      See http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101 and click on “US Code” tab to be sure you’re looking at current law. Right there in the definitions on the first page it says “Publication” is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication.
      
      Now click on “Next” a few times or modify the URL to go to section 106. There it says that the owner has the exclusive right …to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.
      
      So, proven, actual distribution, or actually offering to distribute, is against the law. However, there is not yet much clarity in the courts over whether mere “making available” of someone’s work online always constitutes an “offer” to distribute copies, even in the context of a file-sharing network. It might be covered by what I quoted above, or it might not. It’s easy to think of cases where it’s not so clear. Making something accessible over the Internet doesn’t mean anyone will know about it or be enticed to get a copy of it. Capitol v. Thomas and Atlantic v. Howell looked like they were going to favor accidental file-sharers on Kazaa, and got as far as saying distribution is uncertain in that situation, but both ended up not deciding the issue.
      
      And no, I didn’t quote the DMCA (17 USC 512) to you. That’s part of the limitations on penalties for infringement. It spells out the conditions under which ISPs, search engines, etc. are off the hook for infringement by their users.
    - Who
      
      @Ophelia Millais: your link is NOT US copy right law its to a university. here is the TRUE US copy right law site. and direct link to were correct information on the only way to claim copyright infringements.
      
      http://www.copyright.gov/docs/2265_stat.html
      
      “Chapter 5. Infringement is a crime ONLY where it is done “willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain”
      
      U.S. Copyright Office
      101 Independence Ave. S.E.
      Washington, D.C. 20559-6000
      (202) 707-3000
      
      Revised: 01-Feb-2005
      
      the DMCA is ONLY used to scare people in to NOT making copy’s and distributing them.
      
      “Well, we’re straying from the topic of HDCP circumvention” not really, its tied in to there so called copyright infringing.
      
      so tell me again I am wrong?
    - Who
      
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu5JdmsLWVk&list=FLZehVWSPOf0z-_wN9Wzr-IQ&index=3
    - Who
      
      @Ophelia Millais: BTW http://www.mpaa.org/contentprotection/public-performance-law. they quote the same GOD DAM FUCKING copyright law I linked to. the federal copyright act is directly linked on there site.
    - Ophelia Millais
      
      Yes, I linked to a university site, because that’s the most easily navigated. I could have linked to the Government Printing Office instead: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title17/html/USCODE-2011-title17.htm … It’s not fun to read, but it’s the same content (and then some), and it’s as official as it gets. However, both sites have the same info.. it is the US Code: current law. You can deny it all you want, but that is the actual law on the books.
      
      Second, you must understand the difference between civil and criminal. There is “criminal” copyright infringement, where you are investigated by the FBI and charged with a crime by the federal government, a crime which has to be proven beyond reasonable doubt in a criminal court before a jury if you plead innocent, and which carries jail time, fines, and restitution as possible penalties if you’re found “guilty”. Counterfeiters generally face criminal charges.
      
      Separate from that, there is “civil” copyright infringement, where you are “sued”, i.e. accused by another person or business of having “harmed” them (economically, mainly), either through your actions or negligence. This requires only “a preponderance of evidence” as proof, which is a lower standard than “beyond a reasonable doubt”, and the judges tolerate a lot more shenanigans in civil courts than they would in criminal. You are not found innocent or guilty in civil court, but rather just liable for damages, or not liable.
      
      Title 17 of the US Code (linked above) defines what copyright applies to, and what constitutes infringement, and what remedies are available. It says that certain kinds of infringement are crimes, and others are subject to civil remedies. In other words, some types of cases are handled in criminal court, and some in civil court.
      
      What you linked to was in regard to the NET Act of 1997, which was a law which modified some things related only to criminal copyright infringement. Here is that actual text of the bill:
      http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-105hr2265enr/pdf/BILLS-105hr2265enr.pdf
      
      As you can see, it’s not the same as what you linked to. You didn’t link to the law. You linked to a transcript of a statement that the Copyright Office made to a House subcommittee back when the bill was still being worked on. Had you read it, you would know this.
      
      What they were saying was that the current situation, at that time (1997), was that noncommercial infringement could only be pursued in civil court, and this needed to be changed; they felt the idea of online piracy was very scary and needed to be something that could be dealt with as a crime, not just as a civil matter. They were imploring Congress to use the NET Act to close that hole, thereby making noncommercial infringement eligible for criminal prosecution, not just civil lawsuits. The final law did indeed get passed with that change, and it was signed by President Clinton. So, effective 16 Dec 1997, noncommercial copyright infringement was officially criminalized.
      
      In other words, you could not be more wrong.
Who

BTW making a fucking copy of a copyrighted works is NOT PIRACY!! FUCKING GET THAT IN TO YOUR THICK HEADS!!
- guess
  
  I order ppv and 15 people watch it in the same house on the same tv, fuck their copying bullshit.
  - guess who
    
    m$ will soon put stop to that and make you PAY through the nose, check out what i posted about thier new spy system for pfv.
    - It’s you
      
      Only if you set up a camera/kinect in your living room. Simple answer, don’t set one up.
    - blue_bomber
      
      @It’s you: That sounds easy until all televisions come with visual sensors, e.g., webcams, http://www.samsung.com/us/2012-smart-tv/
HDCP

HDCP has always been a nightmare. Buy a HDCP compliant monitor or TV only to find that it DOES NOT WORK with your cable box. Cable installers HATE HDCP. It’s a fucking fiasco IMHO.
- AR-15
  
  Cable installers in my region now carry the BushMaster AR-15s as standard equipment (anyone can buy an AR-15). If the ‘Lady’ of the house get’s crazy because she doesn’t understand DHCP not working on the new $3,000 TV, the installer first hands over RGB cables … then bullet in the head. (Note: Have her sign the ticket before the bullet solution.)
  
  (Cable installers can’t recommend AntaresPro. It’s in a corporate memo.)
  - blue_bomber
    
    HDCP != DHCP
  - DHCP
    
    What do you want from me? I’m a cable installer. HDCP, DHCP, crazy Lady customer … and my AR-15.
    - blue_bomber
      
      Are you asking me?
http://www.vaporland.com/ vaporland

someone figured out how to pirate crack cocaine?
- SomeYahoo
  
  looks like it
  
  now if only someone figures out how to pirate hookers and shills, we’ll have these jokers out of business in no time!
- Techanon
  
  assault a narco-submarine?
- guess
  
  Tell on the dealer’s momma and say your police.
Asdfsadf

I don’t understant that this article about. I don’t own any special hardware, aside from my ISP’s set top box and a living room DVD recorder with HDD. And I can perfectly well record pay-per-view content. How could I not? The set top box has no way of knowing she is not connected directly to the TV, but to a recorder instead. What am I missing here? I have the set top box’s TV output connected to the recorder input, and the recorder output connected to the TV input. When recorder is in standby, it passes through the signal to the TV. If it is connected, I can perfectly well record everything my set top box is sending to the recorder. So, any one care to explain what is this protection they mention?
- Anyone
  
  probably because your PPV doesn’t require this strict DRM
  
  there are some DRM schemes that rely on a “chain of trust” where each segment in the chain has to understand and respect the HDCP codec, or else nothing will work
  - Asdfsadf
    
    But is there any way the set top box can know she is not connected to a TV? I’m not sure about HDMI cables, but at least with SCART, the output connects with an input. Period. If you connect the TV output of the Set Top Box to a recorder, instead of a TV, how is the Set Top Box supposed to know that?
    - Anyone
      
      with HDCP yes
      if any member in the chain doesn’t support it the devices before it will know it and nothing will work
      
      of course if you use analog connections like SCART the point is moot, as HDCP doesn’t apply to that
    - Rekrul
      
      SCART isn’t HD. HDCP was designed to prevent people from being able to record HiDef signals.
      
      As far as the box being to know that it’s not connected to a TV, that’s what HDCP does. Unlike older standards where the output just sends out the video signal, HDMI devices are designed to talk to each other. The cable box asks “Are you HD?” and the TV says “Yup”, so it sends the HD signal. However if it’s a PPV event, then the TV asks “Are you HDCP compliant?” and if the device doesn’t respond with “Yes”, it shuts off the HDMI signal.
    - Techanon
      
      Probably none of your hardware uses HDCP, including your Set Top Box.
      Wikipedia explains moderately well how that works.
      
      Quote from Wikipedia: “Before sending data, a transmitting device checks that the receiver is authorized to receive it. If so, the transmitter encrypts the data to prevent eavesdropping as it flows to the receiver.”
      
      btw. HDCP only supports digital ports (such as HDMI). SCART is analog.
    - Asdfsadf
      
      Thank you all for your clarifications
Guest

There’s screen recording software that enabkes you to save any video playing on your screen; it has DVD-quality capabilities, provided your hardware is powerful enough, and records either in MPEG or WMV format !!

Google “Replay video capture”, it costs 30 bucks !

No need to worry about watermarks either !

I’m not trying to sell anything, but doesn’t this defeat any digital protection ?
- MadAsASnake
  
  Yes. All these schemes fail because you have to be able to decode it for it to have any value. Blu-Rays were c racked so quickly it must have made the MPAA’s heads spin. If we couldn’t decode DVD’s and so on, no-one would buy them. Anything that is truly effective will cut itself out of the market as no-one wants that sort of grief.
  - guess who
    
    i seem to recal in sweden they introduced drm music cd’s that wouldn’t play on a pc (they had to be marked as this on the cd if i recal correctly). these drmed cd’s didn’t sell very well. i wonder why?
- Austin Williamson
  
  Or there’s any number of free solutions, including my CamStudio. Kinda big in size, but it can be compressed.
  
  Also.
  
  DRM is broken by design.
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Rekrul

Remember the good old days when the media companies put the protection on the media itself, rather than having it built into the hardware?
- ITakeAPotatoChipAndEatIt
  
  You mean when the DRM ended up breaking the media they were trying to sell, they still do it today. Common Practice as far as I’ve seen.
BobbieButtons

How could they possibly calculate the amount for suffering? Hasn’t it been shown numerous times that a download does NOT equal a lost sale?
- Anyone
  
  they are masters of pulling numbers out of their arse
  
  either to “proof” how much piracy hurts them or to “proof” how that latest blockbuster made a loss, so they don’t have to pay any share of the revenue
- SomeYahoo
  
  maybe their “suffering” from a mental illness, would explain a lot
Andrew me

Ok i am a bit high on meds but to be honest even being high i just had to come in here and comment,
Are they fucking stupid , seriously , every method they have used to try to block anyone from copying content in there own home for there own consumption has been broken, did they honestly think this would not be broken at some time or other.

The court has to accept that copying is something that is legal in your own home for personal use and the court cannot and hopefully does not forget that. If it does i am sure a higher court will let the MAFIAA know that they must stop these stupid cases coming to the courts, it is just a waste of the courts time and always fails.

And the piracy argument is mute, if it can be used for a legal thing that does not mean it can be banned or stopped from being made,in fact the position that it could be used for piracy could be a negative point for them fighting this, as they are then claiming people guilty without proof . It is just like suing someone for having a car that can reach 100 miles an hour, just because someone can illegally do it that does not mean they can be stopped from owning a car, that goes the same for knives and guns.

This is a silly case and i hope the courts view it as such. Maybe, just possibly the courts can actually make it clear that drm is illegal and cannot be used for something that is sold.

And the other comment about banning the creation of all medi and that it should be only played in a theater is very interesting, i know he was being sarcastic but if they did this it would stop most copying,but also stop the flood of money to the creators. and when i say flood, imagine all tv not airing any movies , and nobody able to buy dvd’s blurays with Hollywood content, they would go bankrupt within days methinks.
- djnforce9
  
  As you probably realize by now, the MAFIAA hates anything that even “potentially” threatens their monopoly regardless of whether there are legal uses of that technology or not. Just look at all the grief they have towards BitTorrent as they associate it with “download their product for free”. This trend will continue until they can FINALLY bleed themselves into bankruptcy from all these expensive legal assaults and/or people get fed up and stop buying their product (neither of which appears to be happening anytime soon).
HA!

Its the VCR all over again
Xenu

They’re just pissing in the wind. Nothing of any value will come of this. There will always be another proxy.
TigTogDew

Sounds like a pretty cool device to me dude. I want one.
usa-privacy.tk
downunder

Goes to show you can keep sueing and suppressing things but
it never work or stop people trying and bypassing

encryption is always bypassed espc with faster machines and
weak algorithms

anything that goes to a screen can and always will be able to be copied it maybe in a lesser quality

the were against DVRs they didnt want people to record public tv broadcasts.

shit you pay for cable you should have the bloody right to own a copy on a drive to watch over and over

I know some secretively can record direct from satellite as well.. they think its secure but its already be cracked

now they putting pressure on video capturing software writers like tube-digger who got scared and remove the hulu and other sites it could do but cant stop the old versions already out there
and cant stop other software doing the same shit

as you know streaming is slow and buffers and annoying
only way is to download and watch it in a decent player
not via a crap web browser

it just keep pushing in more in the underground and techsavvy hands

cos they want to screw you for over priced shows

however its ironic.. the US gov dont want you to have 2000bit keys cos they want to decode it.. but they encode their stuff to stop you see what they planning.. wikileaks showed them up for the sneaky liers they are all.. eh clinton :)

its not alrightrfor us to have encryption or break keys

but its just fine for the us gov to break keys and encryptions

double standards..

(interesting i see TF has restored the old login and post system)
dondilly

You would have hoped the movie industry would have learned by the mistakes of the music industry. All DRM and copy protection does is inhibit sales. Music sales have only started to take off since they dropped DRM and started selling unencrypted audio. DRM does not stop piracy, it is in fact counter productive as it creates demand for pirated unencrypted product.
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Ejwdbhe

On a cassette tape, if you blocked two holes with tape or something you were able to record over the content.
Was that action ‘evading’ the copy protection system?
- Ophelia Millais
  
  Not really. That hole was not stopping you from copying the content from that tape to another. It was just stopping you from erasing/changing the original tape’s content. It was write protection, not copy protection.
Ray186

WOW someone solved a math problem and these idiots think that’s it’s OK to sue.
guess

Where is their evidence of “piracy” due to this device?
Asdf

any lad able to tellme the name of the device? thinking of getting one myself!
TRUST

Looks like Alex made the grave mistake of not having a Chinese name, based out of some Xinjiang province or whatever. Shame.
Foff

What the fuck is the difference. All of this fancy protection is worthless. In five years maybe less movie theaters will be mostly a thing of the past. When the majority of people have a 70″ flat screen tv and a good 7.1 surround system your experience at home will be every bit as good and maybe better then a theater.

When Hollywood finally figures out that they can make over a billion in few days on any average movie via downloads or streaming why would they need theaters? If you make all your money in the first week piracy becomes somewhat of a moot issue.

That is the future but as usual Hollywood will have to be dragged kicking and screaming until they realize hey we are making more money then ever. It happened with tapes and discs and is only a matter of time before it happens on the internet.

Pay per view does not need to worry those who want to pay will and those don’t won’t and ofter after the event is over no one wants to see it anyway.
Hogspace

Oooh lovely, where can I get one :o)
Zeissmann

I’m just looking forward to the way media and future lawyers will be referring to this case: “Warner Bros./Intel vs. Freedom USA”.
Anonymous

think about it. is this can be stopped, not only does it make the devices illegal, it stops any other similar service from starting up. that takes away the need for the entertainment industries, not just Warner Bros from having to pay to get some other apparatus devised with different protection included but also keeps their monopoly nice and safe and their ability to charge an absolute fortune for supplying crap!!
Guest

Hollywood is graving its own hole.
http://www.facebook.com/kenneth.kolano Kenneth M. Kolano

Just sell devices that enable decryption but don’t include the keys and allow an arbitrary key be entered later.
Gae

Fuck HDCP what a piece of useless shit.

I almost had to buy a whole new graphics card to use my computer because my new monitor had HDCP but my graphics card did not a couple of years back and it refused to play any blu-rays.

They were legitimate blu-rays and brand new hardware and I could not watch them ‘just in case I was a pirate’.
Well guess what I found the solution and I did not need new hardware, in fact I was even able to sell my blu-ray drive because I just downloaded all the blu-ray’s instead via p2p and have done since.

And the retards still think that DRM stops piracy? It fucking encourages it you morons.
- Ophelia Millais
  
  Amen. And you didn’t have any unskippable commercials, region restrictions, device restrictions, or any other crap. You didn’t even have to leave your house. And you “voted” with your wallet, so to speak… Piracy isn’t killing the movie business… the movie business is killing the movie business.
user4life

Sue cameras, because we can all cam our favorite shows in the privacy of our homes and upload them. Dude, I just watched the best quality cam I’ve ever seen!
shuibeng225

http://al.ly/qxA
Roachdaddy

Just going to use my Pantograph to run off a few wax cylinder recordings.
Nothing new under the sun/
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hangover

Looks like they are going after HDfury as well, they got one nice sentence on their website that sum it all up i guess:

“- Given the fact that HDCP is always ON, how could someone legally access work/content that belong to him or work/content that belong to public domain or work/content for which an authorization was granted by the copyright holder?”

but also, some thinking material below:

“- Most of the big companies that are HDCP/HDMI members(if not directly involved in the HanDiCaP consortium) are selling add-ons card for their preHDMI displays that will output analog component or RGB from a HDMI/HDCP encrypted incoming digital stream, some will even output unencrypted Digital Video (see the pioneer add-on card for PDP plasma series). Why and how could those devices be made and sold by multibillion public companies?”
“- As stated and proven previously, same big companies are also including escape trick on HDMI/HDCP source device, so their Blu-Ray player or STB or any other source device can output 1080p full HD HDCP free from either their Digital or Analog output. Once again, how does this fit within the HDCP agreement?”

So… THEY (the big players) can bypass HDCP flagrantly , but you (the small one) cannot. That’s prolly fair slavery.
Kevin Grech

Release the schematics of the HDCP cracked hardware and software code
- hangover
  
  They don’t use any cracked hardware, they use legit embedded keys embedded into Silicon Images chips. (HDMI RX)

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