DRM vs. Hackers: Time to Surrender?

Found on Physorg on Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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"I don't think it has been easy, but nevertheless [the AACS] is being broken... due to software implementations, although there have been hacks done on HD DVD drive firmware as well," said Alec Main, chief technology officer of Cloakware, based in Vienna, Va. "Clearly these software implementations need to take better precautions against being hacked."

Goodman said he considers that a reason to declare the technology defunct, and that DRM is a waste of time. He added that making DRM more secure would mean a trade-off in usability, and customers would be less likely to buy products that are harder to use.

At its core, DRM is not just about security, Goodman added. "It's about trying to force a business model into the marketplace," he said.

"The software developers need to use more advanced techniques such as white-box cryptography, where the keys do not appear in memory," Main said. "This technique can still be hacked ... but these techniques require much more knowledgeable hackers, or more likely a team of hackers, with a strong background in computer science, hacking, mathematics and cryptography."

DRM was made to fail and it's about time everybody realizes this. Decrypting can be hardened, but not made impossible. After all, you have a lot of people out there "with a strong background in computer science, hacking, mathematics and cryptography.". In the end, the industry will have to come up with new ideas and drop the old business model.