FairUse4WM completely breaks Windows Media DRM

[dbarrow]

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=307

Posted by George Ou @ 2:37 am
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Engadget reports (via link from TGDaily) that a utility called FairUse4WM posted on Doom9.org has completely broken Windows Media DRM (Digital Rights Management) copy protection scheme and this spells big trouble for Napster and Yahoo unlimited music subscription services. The music subscription services allow you to download all the music you want for a relatively small monthly fixed fee but the catch is that as soon as you stop paying the subscriptions, the music files you've downloaded stop working because of Windows Media DRM.

But this new utility posted to Doom9.org completely threatens that model because anyone can sign up for a month's subscription and download a ton of music and remove the Windows Media DRM protection. Existing members who don't necessarily want to download more music but want to continue listening to their existing subscription library will also be able to strip the DRM protection and stop their subscriptions ...

[Tortanick]

FSM! Really impressive software, nothing to de-DRM myself. hehe I can't wait to see microsoft fail to ban this :D

[dbarrow]

Microsoft to Fix Security Hole in DRM Application
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/52707.html
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft is preparing a patch for a vulnerability in its digital rights management application that is currently being exploited by a program circulating the Web. The program, called FairUse4WM, disables the DRM protections in Windows Media Player 10 and 11 files and has been used to access music purchased through subscription services.

*well... that didn't take long did it?

[dbarrow]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4043

FairUse4WM Cracks Windows Media DRM, Again

Only days after Microsoft patched the FairUse4WM DRM hack, the creators of the program have released an update that once again breaks the restrictions on protected WMA and WMV files. The utility works by stripping the DRM information from protected windows media files allowing users to freely manipulate the files and play them back as they see fit. ...

*Let the games continue!

[dbarrow]

Quickest Patch Ever
http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,71738-0.html?tw=rss.index

f you really want to see Microsoft scramble to patch a hole in its software, don't look to vulnerabilities that impact countless Internet Explorer users or give intruders control of thousands of Windows machines. Just crack Redmond's DRM. ...

*This blog sums it up quite nicely!

[Pi rules]

I don't believe this. :dizzy: Expect that site to mysteriously be down soon around the same time a new patch comes out. I don't believe I own any DRM-protected music because I don't particularly like most music...

[dbarrow]

Sky hit by Windows Media DRM crack
http://news.com.com/Sky+hit+by+Windows+Media+DRM+crack/2100-1002_3-6114921.html?tag=cd.top

British TV network BSkyB has suspended its broadband movie download service, after a Microsoft security patch on Windows Media's digital rights management was cracked. ...
...he patch had been rushed out by Microsoft after the appearance of a utility, called "FairUse4WM," designed to circumvent the media player's DRM. As DRM aims to prevent unauthorized copying of content, such circumvention could have jeopardized the business models of several subscription services that rely on the technology.

Days later, the creator of FairUse4WM released a new version that cracked Microsoft's patch. ...
...Microsoft's response has been to assure its Windows Media licencees via memo that it has teams "working around the clock" to beat FairUse4WM, according to Engadget, which originally reported the story. ...

*Hey MS... hear the growing roar from the crowd rooting for FairUse4WM?

[dbarrow]

Microsoft sues over source code theft
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6119892.html

Microsoft has filed a federal lawsuit against an alleged hacker who broke through its copy protection technology, charging that the mystery developer somehow gained access to its copyrighted source code. ...

...Microsoft has released two successive patches aimed at disabling the tool. The first worked--but the hacker, known only by the pseudonym "Viodentia," quickly found a way around the update, the company alleges. Now the company says this was because the hacker had apparently gained access to copyrighted source code unavailable to previous generations of would-be crackers. ...

*read deeper and it sounds more like a legal ploy to silence the hack by claiming it contains copyrighted code.

[dbarrow]

Microsoft’s solution to having its DRM hacked: sue
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3680
Posted by David Berlind @ 2:39 pm
...The move certainly raises the question of whether such legal options are the last resort to protecting software-based DRM. If they are, they won’t survive the international test of time (and Internet). Meanwhile, the Secure Video Processor Alliance is already out politicking, saying that hardware-based DRM is the only way to do DRM. It may be right (not that that makes DRM right). ...