It's hackers latest gift to Microsoft and the DMCA.
The next cycle in the game between hackers and Digital Rights Management is finally here. Hackers created a program called FairUse4m that cracks Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management. This is the second (or third?) time it’s been cracked. The first version of FairUse4M came out and Microsoft quickly patched it. Microsoft has had to close security holes in its latest DRM twice before. The newest version of the hack is particularly slick because it can use a drag and drop interface to allow easy cracking to the end user.
Microsoft was unable to comment on how long it will take them to close this latest security breech.
The DRM system from Microsoft includes the one used to protect audio (and video) files sold under the PlaysForSure system. This is a unique system of DRM that allows users to ‘rent’ large music libraries. Yahoo Music and Napster are online music stores that use this system. The PlaysForSure logo appears on equipment sold to consumers that are capable of playing back music encrypted with Microsoft’s DRM. As long as you subscribe to the music service of your choice you have access to the entire music library (usually 128bit MP3 or WMA files). But when you cancel your subscriptions the songs are deleted.
What is Fair Use?
FairUse4m (Fair Use for the Masses) is an obvious reference to a 1984 Supreme Court ruling. In the landmark case of Sony Corp. V Universal City Studios. the Supreme Court ruled in favor of consumers recording TV shows on (Sony’s) Beta VCRs also called timeshifting. The practice was ruled “Fair Use” of copyrighted material. Fair Use is a principal being fought for by hackers ever since a 1996 Clinton era Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The act protects copyrighted material in the digital domain and effectively renders the 1984 Supreme Court ruling obsolete.
