The HD-DVD code, the insanity of it, and the gaming connection…

If you’re on the Internet, you’ve probably already encountered, in some strange fashion, the supposedly dreaded HD-DVD hexadecimal code that dooms the HD-DVD’s security. Here’s a little history on that, and we’ll show how it’s somehow connected (even in an infinitesimal manner) to the wonderful world of gaming.

We here at QJ.NET first came across the code, or at least, word that HD-DVD’s security got breached, around early January this year. Back then people were speculating that it was just a hoax, and many doubted that it was a real breach. You know how things are in the “Interwebs”; people scream “Fake!” and often times for good reason.

Anyhow, it was mostly speculative until the AACS itself admitted later that same month that the encryption of the AACS system had been bypassed. But they were bold enough to show confidence in their system. They said, “It does not represent an attack on the AACS system itself.” They defended themselves by saying that the widespread copying of movies is impractical given the large file sized in high-definition discs.

Of course, the mouth says one thing, but the hand that gives out cease and desist orders does something else.

Read the rest after the Jump! Click on the “Full Article” link below.

If you’re on the Internet, you’ve probably already encountered, in some strange fashion, the supposedly dreaded HD-DVD hexadecimal code that dooms the HD-DVD’s security. Here’s a little history on that, and we’ll show how it’s somehow connected (even in an infinitesimal manner) to the wonderful world of gaming.

We here at QJ.NET first came across the code, or at least, word that HD-DVD’s security got breached, around early January this year. Back then people were speculating that it was just a hoax, and many doubted that it was a real breach. You know how things are in the “Interwebs”; people scream “Fake!” and often times for good reason.

Anyhow, it was mostly speculative until the AACS itself admitted later that same month that the encryption of the AACS system had been bypassed. But they were bold enough to show confidence in their system. They said, “It does not represent an attack on the AACS system itself.” They defended themselves by saying that the widespread copying of movies is impractical given the large file sized in high-definition discs.

Of course, the mouth says one thing, but the hand that gives out cease and desist orders does something else.

You’ve all probably heard of the recently-ended Digg “riots” by now. Well it all started because Digg decided to moderate posts that contained the now popular HD DVD code that allowed for the decryption of HD-DVDs. Digg members didn’t like this.

Digg owner Kevin Rose eventually gave in to public demand. On the official Digg blog, he wrote,

… you’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.

If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.

The guy even posted the code himself.

Meanwhile, the code spread across the Internet and became a meme. There were T-shirts, mugs, image macros, obfuscations in base ten, and other creative means of spreading the much-maligned set of hexadecimal numbers.

Now here’s where the ones-in-power seem to say one thing but seem to confirm something else by their actions: (1) as QJ.NET writer Ryan A. has previously reported, AACS Chairman Michael Ayers said, “There has been a lot of misunderstanding. The key that has been leaked has now been revoked,” but (2) at the same time, the AACS says that they are going to confront those who published the exploit with “legal and technical tools.”

If the copy-protection on HD-DVD was “absolutely not broken,” then why pursue bloggers who pass around something that essentially is just a set of numbers?

Here’s where the sort-of-gaming connection comes in. GamePro reports that one of the means that was used to break the AACS security was looking at how the Xbox 360’s HD-DVD drive reads the volume ID of a disc – one piece of information needed to eventually decrypt and copy a disc.

Sigh. So what are the AACS folks going to do? Go after Microsoft?

Considering that the AACS is willing to chase after blog owners (even those that own relatively small blogs) for publishing a hexadecimal code that’s practically useless if you don’t know what to do with it, will they go after a company whose hardware made it possible for crackers to make this *gasp* evil assault into their security? (Of course, I’m not serious about them going after Microsoft – I’m just trying to emphasize the insanity of it all.)

Why do people always try to shut the Internet up?

You know what? Some of us are actually hoping that this whole mess gets out of hand. Like beer-crazed fans at a monster truck rally, some of us are waiting for the big crash.

Because if this issue spreads, and if the folks who spread the code come out as the winners in this whole drama, then this could open a whole lot of doors when it comes to content distribution. This could be bigger than Steve Jobs and his open letter to the industry folk.

Wouldn’t that kind of paradigm shift be nice? Maybe Sony will lighten up on homebrew on the PSP or even on the PS3. Maybe Microsoft will make XNA more open and free, and maybe Nintendo will find more ways to deliver open content. There, we said it, that’s how this big mess affects you.