HD-DVD Encryption Authority Vows to Fight Key Leak

Ars Technica has the latest in the HD-DVD encryption key leak story (see my previous post). The encryption method in question is called AACS and it’s managed by the AACS Licensing Authority.

“If the local neighborhood gang is throwing rocks at your house, some people might tell you not to call the police because they will just throw bigger rocks,” [AACS LA chairman Michael] Ayers said.

But the bigger point is what happens when you “call the police,” to continue with his metaphor. Yes, the cops can stop people from throwing rocks at your house, so you’ve got to take that risk knowing that those same kids might retaliate next week. But AACS isn’t a house, and encryption keys aren’t rocks. Can “the cops” stop a 16-byte number from existing online? We can peer into the future and see the answer because history is, in fact, repeating itself.

The article goes on to draw the natural parallel between the HD-DVD encryption hack and DeCSS, the 1999 DVD encryption hack. The two situations will end in the same result: the code will continue to be available online. Unfortunately, the AACS LA seems determined to harass a bunch of people with lawsuits before bowing to the inevitable.