HD DVD & Blu-ray Hacked

An online hacker has claimed to have found a cryptographic key within HD DVD and Blu-ray titles that can be used to override copyright protection on the movies.

The key in question was published on the Doom9.org discussion forum, and the hacker goes by the name "Arnezami".

HD DVD and Blu-ray titles are currently encrypted with the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) system. No word yet on whether AACS will develop a more sophisticated method of protection for future hi-def releases, although it would only be a matter of time before someone found a way to hack that as well.

While hackers like Arnezami would claim cracking copyright protection is a way of making backup copies of already-owned hi-def titles, the studios would claim that such key-cracking leads to illegal copying and black market selling of their product.