HD-DVD circumvened with 360 drive [update 1]

by Richard Mitchell @TheRichardM on Dec 29th 2006 2:45PM

Update: Our limited knowledge -- we are not haxxors in the least -- has led to a terminological error. AACS has not been "broken," merely "circumvented" by using the decryption keys. Furthermore, decryption keys can be revoked, meaning that the ones currently available could easily be nullified. It's also likely that the DVD software used to find the keys will be patched. Whether or not AACS was technically broken, the upshot is that you can backup HD-DVD's even though you're not supposed to, for the moment anyway. Thanks to Dylan Neild for setting us straight.

Utilizing a 360 HD-DVD drive, a hacker known as muslix64 has successfully ~~broken~~ circumvented the AACS HD-DVD copy protection. The software used, called BackupHDDVD, utilizes cryptographic keys that are specific to each individual movie. This means that any would be makers of "backup" copies will first need the proper key. It is currently unknown where muslix64 happened upon his keys. Once decrypted, the film can be copied to a hard drive and played with the appropriate program.

TeamXbox points out that Blu-Ray also uses AACS encryption, so it's only a matter of time before Blu-Ray encryption is ~~broken~~ circumvented as well. Muslix64 claims that it took him only 8 days to decrypt his first HD-DVD movie. Makes you wonder how much Hollywood spent developing AACS, doesn't it? The hacker made a short video showing the software facilitated decryption process. Watch it after the break.