Intel has gone on the record to admit that the supposed master key that can be used to circumvent High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), the DRM that prevents copying data over HDMI and DVI connections, is indeed the real thing. They’ve also made it quite clear that they will pursue legal action against anyone they catch using it.
As we reported last week, a matrix of hexadecimal numbers claiming to be the HDCP master key showed up in a post on an online forum and quickly began spreading its way across the internet. If a knowledgeable individual were to build a capture device, this key would allow them to make high-quality copies of audio and video files directly from Blu-ray and other media players.
Although Intel has confirmed the validity of the master key, they do not yet know how it was cracked or who may have done it.
“We’re investigating how it might have been obtained, how someone might have determined it,” said Intel spokesperson Tom Waldrop.
Waldrop also told eWeek that the company would sue those who build devices which use the information to illegally duplicate copyrighted media.
“Should someone use this published information to create a circumvention device there are definitely enforcement actions that could be taken… we would avail ourselves of the legal remedies as appropriate at our choice,” he said.
Despite all of this, Intel has also told the movie industry that the leak does not pose a serious piracy threat because it would require a custom-built device to do so. While some folks in the media seem to believe that claim, others are saying that Intel is being naïve and underestimating the abilities of people, especially enterprising teenagers.
I’m sure that it’s not going to be an easy task for someone to build an HDCP circumvention device, and that there are some people out there who are viewing the situation as a challenge. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see videos of such a device posted somewhere online soon, and I also don’t expect that Intel’s legal threats will deter anyone from doing any of it.
