BD+

BD+ is a component of the Blu-ray Disc Digital Rights Management system. It was developed by Cryptography Research Inc. and is based on their Self-Protecting Digital Content concept. [ [http://www.cryptography.com/technology/spdc/bluray.html Content Protection - BD+ and Blu-ray ] ] BD+ played an important role in the past format war of Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. Several studios have cited Blu-ray Disc's adoption of the BD+ anti-copying system as the reason they supported Blu-ray Disc over HD DVD. [cite web |url=http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/how-crypto-won.html |title=How Crypto Won the DVD War |publisher=Wired |author=Ryan Singel |date=February 26, 2008 |accessdate=2008-02-27]

On November 19 2007, Macrovision announced that it planned to acquire the SPDC technology (including patents and software code) from CRI for US$45 million in cash plus stock warrants.cite web|url=http://www.macrovision.com/company/newscenter/pressreleases/1434_7711.htm|title=Macrovision to Acquire Blu-ray Disc Security Technology from Cryptography Research, Inc.] As of March 19, 2008, SlySoft, makers of media software claimed that one iteration of BD+ had been circumvented; Blu-Ray titles starting with Jumper restored BD+ protection for a short while but were broken again a few days after they showed up.

Capabilities

BD+ is effectively a small virtual machine embedded in authorized players. It allows content providers to include executable programs on Blu-ray Discs. Such programs can:cite web |url=http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/vectors/brcp.pdf |title=Blu-ray Disc Next-Generation Optical Storage: Protecting Content on the BD-ROM |accessdate=2007-05-03 |publisher=DELL |format=PDF]
* examine the host environment, to see if the player has been tampered with. Every licensed playback device manufacturer must provide the BD+ licensing authority with memory footprints that identify their devices.
* verify that the player's keys have not been changed.
* execute native code, possibly to patch an otherwise insecure system.
* transform the audio and video output. Parts of the content will not be viewable without letting the BD+-program unscramble it.
* limit playback of a Blu-Ray disc to the first device in which the Disc is playedIf a playback device manufacturer finds that its devices have been hacked, it can potentially release BD+-code that detects and circumvents the vulnerability. These programs can then be included in all new disc releases.

The specifications of the BD+ virtual machine are only available to licensed device manufacturers. A list of licensed adopters is available from the BD+ website. [ [http://www.bdplusllc.com/home/list_of_adopters_content_participants_and_eligible_code_developers BD+ Technologies LLC ] ]

Cracking BD+

On November 8, 2007, SlySoft announced that BD+ discs can be copied with AnyDVD ripper. [ [http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=9453 AnyDVD 6.1.9.6 beta - SlySoft Forum ] ] This was possible because first BD+ titles didn't check if AACS was present. The crack allowed a user to copy a BD to the harddrive and play it back from there using only a specific version of Cyberlink's PowerDVD (3319a), but not to transcode, otherwise manipulate the content or play it back from a burned BD-R or BD-RE. Updated versions of BD+ security code plugged this hole.

On January 9, 2008, engadgethd.com reported that Fox has stated that BD+ has yet to be compromised. [ [http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/09/bd-has-not-been-compromised-yet/ BD+ has not been compromised, yet] , Engadget HD.] When asked how many hi-def 20th Century Fox titles had become available online, the rep reported that the titles were available as HD DVDs in Europe.

On March 3, 2008, SlySoft updated AnyDVD HD allowing the full decryption of BD+ [http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=14786 Press Release: AnyDVD HD now with BD+ support - SlySoft Forum] , allowing for not only the viewing of the film itself but also playing and ripping disks with unlicensed software.

On March 19, 2008, a new version of AnyDVD HD was released (6.4.0.0) that supports the full removing of the BD+ copy protection for all titles released to date. [ [http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=14787 AnyDVD 6.4.0.0 - SlySoft Forum] ] [http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=306 ZDNet Blogs] [ [http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=14786 Press Release: AnyDVD HD now with BD+ support - SlySoft Forum] ]

In May 2008 the Blu-Ray release of Jumper introduced a modified version of BD+ security code which prevented the Slysoft AnyDVD HD software from removing BD+. This modified version was again broken by Slysoft several months after Jumper hit the streets.

In August 2008, members of the Doom9 forum began work on an independent project to break BD+. [ [http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=140571 Finally handling BD+ - Doom9 Forum] ]

ee also

*Blu-ray Digital Rights Management

References