It seems that HDCP, the high def content protection scheme that's all the rage among Hollywood types, may not be as secure as the suits had hoped: Princeton University computer science professor Ed Felten takes a look at the standard's supposedly well-known security flaws and dumbs down the basic tech on his blog so all us non-math majors can understand. Basically, HDCP relies on a handshake between connected hardware wherein the two devices send each other a set of rules to be applied to the forty-or-so numbers that constitute both devices' "secret vector" -- if each device reports the same numerical result (as the pre-determined mathematical rules dictate they should), sweet high definition content can begin to flow freely. According to Felt, all it takes to figure out a given device's secret vector or create a workable "phantom" vector is to perform a number of handshakes equal to the number of elements in the secret vector, followed by a little bit of algebra to tease out the results from a matrix of equations (follow the "Read" link for a better explanation). Although HDCP-restricted HDMI and DVI connections aren't prevalent enough yet for anyone to have actually undertaken this project (either that, or fear of legal reprisals has kept any successful cracks from being published), the simple fact that it's doable could mean nightmares for Tinseltown sooner rather than later.

[Via Boing Boing]

French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde has hit back at Apple — and critics of France — in defending the country’s proposed law on digital audio interoperability. In comments to reporters while visiting San Francisco, Lagarde declared that when "a company restricts competition in … it gets the attention of regulating agencies. We have to play by the rules of the game." Of course, it can be argued that Apple hasn’t restricted competition, given the fact that there are a number of other companies operating online music stores and making digital audio players — and that France is attempting to change the rules midgame. Lagarde also had a message for those who have criticized French policies on the Apple issue and other recent developments: "I don’t want the crap," she said. "It annoys me when France is portrayed as an awkward, backward country. It is not."

We have to admit that we didn't really think they'd be able to pull it off, and we're still not sure this is going to win any hearts and minds, but the intellectual property mavens over at IPac has managed to send their first batch of iPods to members of the US Senate. The first 12 Senators to receive iPods include both Republicans and Democrats, and were apparently chosen based on committee assignments and legislation they've sponsored. Recipients include Republican Gordon Smith of Oregon, who is helping to draft Broadcast Flag legislation, Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska who "asked good questions" at recent Broadcast Flag hearings, and Republican John Ensign of Nevada, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation, and Competitiveness. Each iPod was preloaded with public domain and Creative Commons-licensed content, including text, music, photos and a video of Lawrence Lessig discussing the importance of a progressive approach to intellectual property. We'll have to check back with the Senators in a month and find out if they've actually watched or listened to any of this -- of if they've handed off the iPods to interns and grandkids, who've refilled them with the latest from the Pussycat Dolls and Kelly Clarkson.

[Via iLounge]

JVC is
making another effort to stake out some turf in the digital audio player market with two new flash models, the 512MB
XA-F57 and 1GB XA-F107 (which are, basically, US versions of the href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/25/jvc-alneo-xa-series-audio-players/">Alneo models the company showed in
Japan a few months back). Both models support MP3, WMA and PlaysForSure, and also include a line-in for direct
encoding. They also include everyone’s favorite feature du jour, a lanyard with an integrated headphones (of course,
that could get in the way if you don’t want to wear the player around your neck, but then if that’s the case,
you’re probably not JVC’s kind of customer). The players also have a mono LCD display, come in pink, silver, white and
black, and support mass-storage mode for non-DRM’d files. The F57 is expected to sell for $99, and the F107 should go
for about $149.

Not a fan of hardware DRM enforcement and trusted computing models? Well, you might want to plug your ears (or pay close attention, depending on how you treat this kind of news), because IBM announced that they'll be marketing future chipset solutions with SecureBlue -- their new take on secure computing hardware (with a specific bend toward locking down DRM for the end user). But SecureBlue's not only necessarily for computers; they also seem to want to launch the technology on "low-cost, relatively low performance electronics." In other words, you might start seeing SecureBlue "protecting" your computer from viruses and malevolent (or unsigned / unapproved) software just like it might also be powering the next wave of lower-power consumptive DRM-enabled portable audio players. Honestly we don't really know exactly what and how, though, since IBM didn't really seem to want to get incredibly verbose or specific on the matter. But you know how these things work, so expect to be hearing the SecureBlue name -- at least a little -- in the coming months.

Last month we wrote about a CNET study that quietly laid claim to PlaysForSure DRM cutting player battery life by as much as 25%, and FairPlay draining iPod batteries by up to 8%. DAPreview put it to the test, though, by comparing playback time on 25 albums in 160KBps non-DRMed and DRMed WMA in sequence on a fully charged SanDisk Sansa e260 with volume at 50%, screen brightness at low, and the backlight left on. And wouldn't you know it, the DRMed files played all of 25 minutes less, or 2.8% less than the 14:55 pulled from the non-DRMed music. However, since the test was only run on a single device, this only means you can conclude that the Sansa e260 handles DRM well; with so many chipset designs for player internals, you couldn't expect all devices to produce the same positive results. But hey, it's encouraging, if nothing else -- especially if you're a Sansa e260 user.

src="http://www.downloadsquad.com/images/2005/07/winsecure.jpg" alt="" />Just in case you had any concerns that
cellphone content wasn’t secure enough, Microsoft has announced what the company is calling "significant
investments" in DRM technologies for mobile devices.  Details are a bit scarce, with no exact financial
details, but Microsoft’s Kevin Johnson, co-president of the Platforms & Services Division, said the move was made
in response to demands from the company’s wireless partners and, of course, to "give consumers what they want –
seamless experiences with premium content on a wide range of mobile devices." (See? This is all about what you
want, after all.) Microsoft’s Windows Media Digital Rights Management is currently the most widely used DRM in the
world, with this latest move likely to only further solidify that position.