Starting with the week of April 23, HD-DVD movies will begin shipping with new protection encryption that will only work on certain HD-DVD systems, forcing users of non-sanctioned HD-DVD (like the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player in use on a PC) players to find other methods of working around the new cryptography.

The original problem with this method of playing HD-DVDs came from InterVideoDVD:

Through sophisticated software probes, hackers found the device key in InterVideoDVD, a software program now owned by Corel Corp. On April 6, Corel issued an update for the InterVideo WinDVD playback software that refreshes and further obscures those device keys. New HD DVDs issued after April 23 will not work on players running the old software.

As always, the battle for cryptography against exploitation is never finished. Hackers will inevitably discover newer, more creative methods of cracking this updated protection, nullifying the improved security. In the end, pirates seem like they will always have more resources, causing companies to waste money in a near futile attempt at product control.

[Via Yahoo]

1. Ashius says:
   April 17th, 2007 at 9:30 pm

   Pirates like their booty cold!