Tuesday, September 21st 2010
Leaked HDCP Master Key Legit: Intel
Earlier this month, it was reported that the master-key that overrides or unlocks HDCP-encrypted digital content may have been leaked. The worst fears of the HDCP team are coming true, with Intel, a main developer of HDCP, confirming that the master-key leak is genuine. High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is everywhere, wherever there's commercial high-definition video content, such as Blu-ray movie titles, HDTV set-top boxes, PCs capable of Blu-ray playback, and so on. It is an encryption layer that protects the HD content in its natural audio-video quality from being ripped. Without HDCP one would still be able to watch HD content, albeit with degraded quality.
The immediate repercussions of the master key leak are directed at consumer electronics manufacturers, they might hesitate to adopt HDCP paying its royalty for making use of the protocol, there is technically no fidelity left in it. Grey-market and el-cheapo consumer electronic manufacturers can circumvent HDCP compliance to offer near-perfect video playback. What's worse, it's party-time for pirates. Devices that recover digital content while retaining perfect picture/audio quality by stripping out the encryption can be made. Whatever the consequences Intel maintains it won't affect HDCP much.
"We believe that this technology will remain effective," said Intel's spokesperson Tom Waldrop. "There's a large install base of licensed devices including several hundred licensees that will continue to use it and in any case, were a (circumvention) device to appear that attempts to take advantage of this particular hack there are legal remedies, particularly under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)," he added. This indicates that the publishing industry will indeed have to fall back to DMCA for enforcing IPR. Again, a company the size of Intel won't leave any stone unturned in pursuing manufacturers of unauthorized devices.
Source:
CNET
The immediate repercussions of the master key leak are directed at consumer electronics manufacturers, they might hesitate to adopt HDCP paying its royalty for making use of the protocol, there is technically no fidelity left in it. Grey-market and el-cheapo consumer electronic manufacturers can circumvent HDCP compliance to offer near-perfect video playback. What's worse, it's party-time for pirates. Devices that recover digital content while retaining perfect picture/audio quality by stripping out the encryption can be made. Whatever the consequences Intel maintains it won't affect HDCP much.
"We believe that this technology will remain effective," said Intel's spokesperson Tom Waldrop. "There's a large install base of licensed devices including several hundred licensees that will continue to use it and in any case, were a (circumvention) device to appear that attempts to take advantage of this particular hack there are legal remedies, particularly under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)," he added. This indicates that the publishing industry will indeed have to fall back to DMCA for enforcing IPR. Again, a company the size of Intel won't leave any stone unturned in pursuing manufacturers of unauthorized devices.
32 Comments on Leaked HDCP Master Key Legit: Intel
And i use mixed bag of legit and second hand goods. So i don't think anything will change for most users like me.
Some web sites sensationalize this quite a bit, but I do not think it's going to be that large of a problem.
From what I've read, you will have to have one of these (circumvention) devices between everything that the signal passes between. That's could be rather cumbersome to implement, and it's doubtful that the average "joe" (the majority) would go through the trouble.
But as always, time will tell.
The first was with a older 17" 1280x1024 DVI monitor I wanted to use as a temporary screen to play games on while my TV was being repaired. It simply refused to output a video signal.
The second was with an older HDTV with an HDMI port that again the PS3 would simply refuse to output a signal to.
It is my understanding that HDCP compliant devices are simply supposed to revert to 1080i or 720p in cases where HDCP is not present, but it seems like Sony simply refused to allow any digital video at all...:banghead:
I'm not entirely sure what the deal is, I've never known HDCP to prevent piracy... digital piracy anyway.
from what I remember, an inaudible tone is part of the soundtrack. if the playing device "hears" this tone, playback is not possible, regardless of hdcp.
Nothing ever stops the pirates.