Next-gen chips and DRM

[Diasper]

As the title;

What's the DRM implementations going to be with the future chips - Conroe and AM2?

 

[bendixG15]

I was hoping you could tell us...........

 

[Munky]

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html

This page provides some detailed info on "trusted computing", and it aint pretty.

 

[Diasper]

Originally posted by: bendixG15
I was hoping you could tell us...........

hah, well, as I understand it, it will follow the TC protocols. However, regards end user control it seems Intel and AMD have been proposing it as something that can be switched off or is opt-in. This makes obvious sense as neither wants to jump full in and receive the bad PR while they want to be able to want to take part in the 'digital home' and so play the latest content.

Nevertheless, I haven't heard any definitive news of how this is going to be implementated and whether information we are hearing now is going to be correct at time of launch.

Originally posted by: munky
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html

This page provides some detailed info on "trusted computing", and it aint pretty.

I've read that myself - that tends to top google search results when searching for DRM information. That really doesn't make it sound like a step forward by any means!

 

[Diasper]

bump

 

[Steaksauce]

Man, who does know anything about this?

 

[Cooler]

There is not single piece of hardware or software that can not be cracked.

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Cooler
There is not single piece of hardware or software that can not be cracked.

I think security isn't about making something unbreakable but making it take a very long time to break.

 

[v8envy]

I am unworried about future DRM schemes, no longer how draconian they seem. The motivation to crack them is huge -- the first ones to do so will be vaulted to cult hero status among the crackers and script kiddies.

In other words, there is about 10 orders of magnitude MORE creative brainpower waiting to be unleashed against any mainstream DRM than will be used to create it. And we all know it's easier to destroy than create.

Most likely the weaknesses will once again be in key distribution. The cyptography algorithms are likely sound and secure, but the storage and transmission of keys, not so much.

Plus I'm sure some genius will figure out how to scan the video frame buffer at 60 frames/sec reliably and simply save a copy of any protected video stream to be encoded/transmited later.

 

[pcoffman]

Originally posted by: Cooler
There is not single piece of hardware or software that can not be cracked.

Beg to differ, if you're talking about encryption, unless the algorithm is flawed. Also unless you're talking about brute-force, which with a strong key can take billions of times the age of the universe to break.

security isn't about making something unbreakable but making it take a very long time to break

"Correct" terminology is computationally infeasible, as opposed to unconditionally secure.

Most likely the weaknesses will once again be in key distribution

Recovery of a key through noncryptanalytic means--say, someone hides the key somewhere and then someone finds it--is called a "compromise", and is technically different than breaking the encryption. CSS, the system that encrypts DVDs, was broken. CPPM, which protects DVD-A, wasn't broken, but a way was found to pipe the decrypted contents to where it could be captured. The cryptographic system that protects both Blu-ray and HD DVD is going to be a bitch to crack, if it can be any time soon.

If anyone's interested, there's short piece on some of the basic concepts underlying encryption here.