Posted on 02/01/2007 6:21:11 PM PST by Space Wrangler
A Romanian-born programmer claims to have developed code that can bypass the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology in Windows Vista. Writing in his blog, Alex Ionescu said that for over a year, he's been working on a method of getting around Vista's signed driver requirements and that he's recently succeeded.
As you might know, Vista requires that all drivers be digitally signed so that they can be properly authenticated to the OS. The 64-bit version of Vista requires what Microsoft calls Kernel Mode Code Signing (KMCS) in order to load kernel-mode drivers.
Vista also includes a technology called Protect Media Path (PMP), which essentially is a way to enable secure playback of "next-generation premium content," such as high-definition DVDs. The idea behind PMP is to prohibit access to unencrypted premium content to prevent the user from making copies that aren't approved by the content publisher. In order to facilitate trusted interoperability with premium content, any components placed into the PMP must be digitally signed for use with PMP.
Ionescu said that his code does not load any unsigned drivers and that he uses a special boot flag when starting Vista. He intends to release sample code that partially demonstrates his discoveries, but he won't release code that bypasses Vista DRM out of fear of being prosecuted under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
"Later this week I will release some safe, generic, proof of concept code that targets what I believe is a flaw in the Code Integrity/Driver Signing model.... Because this code will require an initial reboot [of the operating system] Microsoft does not consider it to be a flaw from a security standpoint. And because [the code I intend to release is] so generic, it has absolutely nothing to do with DRM or PMP. That being said, I'm sure someone with knowledge of the PMP implementation might be able to use this as a very smart building block of the entire code that would be required [to bypass PMP and DRM]," Ionescu wrote.
I finally got his true opinion on it, although it seemed to illogically assume that illegal actions by others were somehow working in his benefit. Thanks for your concern.
Yikes!, the the new MAC OS coming out this spring will be $129 I think unless they add iLife, then it'll be around $199.
Love our Macs!
That is close to a very good analogy. Now imagine that the fence you're erecting is around a home you sold to someone, and he keeps taking it down so he can go into his new home.
Why?
I don't understand the problems people are having either. IE7 works great for me in those rare times when I need IE, and it didn't screw up anything. OTOH, I see no reason to use IE7 as a regular browser over Firefox.
The Russians that hacked OSX and now the Romanians that hacked Vista don't own the house, they're merely renters, at best. If they don't abide by the lease put forth by the actual property owners, they no longer will legally have access.
I have automatic update on.....
Actually we have US Corporations and Hollywood Vs American Consumers as a warm up match. First we have Hollywood decide how many devices I can watch a video or listen to a song on, theyll lobby congress and get laws passed which severly restrict fair use.
Next he is going to back a measure which will restrict how meny rooms of your home you could read a bedtime story to your kids with..
Maybe in your world charging over and over for the same thing is 'fair', but not mine. The RIAA and MPAA control 99% of the content available, and therefore is anything but a capitalistic market.
lol. I posted the Auzzie article link to another Vista article minutes ago.
I've actually seen quite a few problems with IE7. I haven't gotten to the root of it, as most people just want it off and to go back to IE6, but the problems are pretty widespread.
Where his logic becomes flawed is that he assumes a free market exists where one doesn't. If the MPAA and RIAA did with gas what they are doing with music, there would be riots in the streets.
“This is SACD silence, the purest silence known to man — It's premium and must be protected at all costs!” — Paul Stimpson.
My guess is Vista is going to have a lot of Vista multimediots users wishing they were running Tor.
“when I disable my HD monitor, I can watch the movie, on my old VGA screen, but, what is the point of having a HD monitor and not being able to watch a HD movie on it” — “muslix64” (muslix64 was so upset at not being able to play his legitimately-purchased movies on his legitimately-purchased monitor attached to his legitimately-purchased player that he broke the AACS protection just to be able to see his own movies, see Note D)."
What does that have to do foreign hackers like the ones that hacked Apple's OSX computer operating system to run on cheap PC's, or those that hacked the Vista operating system's ability to encrypt high definition signals? Those are both circumventions of DRM, but I don't see where they match your concern of having to pay for something twice.
What do you mean you don't have choice, here's a single source offering quote "75,425 FREE MP3s".
http://music.download.com/
I don't know about you but that sounds like a lot of listening.
H4CK3R N3WBI3's laughable attempt at projection when as usual he's short on anything of merit.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.