Pirates (not the Caribbean ones) are sending shockwaves through the motion picture industry. Hacker sites are reporting cracking the encryption on both formats of high definition DVD. This is a tremendously negative development for consumers. Already skittish about making high definition programming available due to piracy concerns, this news confirms the entertainment industry’s worst fears. I think we can look forward to even more stringent digital rights management (DRM) that limits available content and decreases consumer enjoyment of the latest movies and entertainment programming.

Here is a summary of the hack:

HD DVD and Blu-ray Now Completely Hacked, Cracked, Sacked

Gizmodo , February 13, 2007 Tuesday 11:15 AM EST

Feb. 13, 2007 ( delivered by Newstex) –

The guys at the Doom 9 forum are marking February 11, 2007 as the day when digital rights management was defeated on Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. It turns out that cracking the high definition disc formats was much easier than was originally thought. The processing key that can unravel the DRM on all HD DVD and Blu-ray discs has been found by a clever encryption fighter named arnezami.

It gets better:

The first-reported and Blu-ray discs were not completely effective, because each individual title had secret codes that were needed to unravel the rest of the encryption on that disc. But now this newly-found processing key is apparently the holy grail that unlocks the DRM on all HD DVD and Blu-ray discs released so far. The guy found it by simply watching his computer memory, where the secret code–which we won’t publish here for fear of doing jail time–simply appeared. Incredible. Let the free downloads begin! — Charlie White

[Doom9 Forum]

http://www.contentagenda.com/articleXml/LN570885857.html?industryid=45180

You can also check out this post on Boing Boing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/13/bluray_and_hddvd_bro.html

As this press release from 99 Ways Entertainment demonstrates, you have to think creatively if you want to raise film financing.

To get its own stories distributed 99 Ways has brought together a dynamic mix of music and film stars together with creative financing by NBA players, doing an end run around the traditional channel of seeking pick up by a separate film distribution company. Its first feature-length docudrama, Gangstresses, starring singers Mary J. Blige and Lil’ Kim, was produced for $25,000. Released straight-to-video, it spent 12 weeks on Billboard’s Top 40 Video Sales, earning revenues in excess of $1 million and garnering the Independent Film Project (IFP) Best Directorial Debut award for Davis. Six years later the film, which was also featured in pop culture venues such as BET, The Source and Interview Magazine, is still selling in the U.S. and internationally.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070206/nytu064.html?.v=75