DVDFab Says No Crack For Next-Gen Blu-ray Discs

The company behind the popular DVDFab software has announced it will not be supporting decryption of the enhanced Advanced Access Content System that will be used to protect new Ultra HD (4K UHD) Blu-ray discs. The announcement comes just a day after rival copying software company SlySoft confirmed its closure.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

dvdfSlySoft was a company that gained a reputation for producing software designed to circumvent copyright protection mechanisms. Among them was AnyDVD, a device driver for Windows which allowed users to decrypt DVDs and Blu-ray discs on the fly.

Under pressure from AACS LA, a decryption licensing outfit founded by a group of powerful Hollywood movie studios and various technology partners, SlySoft first went dark and then announced its closure this week.

And now, in the space of just a couple of days, another DVD/Blu-ray copying software company also appears to be feeling the heat.

Like SlySoft, China-based Fengtao Software has also been involved in a dispute with AACS LA and in 2014 was the subject of a preliminary injunction after a court found that DVDFab violates the DMCA’s anti-circumvention clause. In 2015 a federal court in New York extended the injunction, further pressuring the company.

Then yesterday, just a day after the closure of SlySoft, Fengtao dropped a bombshell of its own. In a press release sent to Myce the company announced that DVDFab will not be updated to crack the Advanced Access Content System encryption that will be present in the next generation of 4K UHD Blu-ray discs.

“The next version of AACS Copy Protection accompanying those newly released Ultra HD Blu-ray titles is the version 2.0 of Advanced Access Content System. According to a document called AACS 2.0 Draft, the new copy protection requires the Ultra HD Blu-ray players to support two AACS 2.0 functionalities, one named ‘basic’ and the other referred as ‘enhanced’,” the company said in a statement.

“Fengtao Software Inc. makes it clear that the company will not decrypt or circumvent AACS 2.0 in the days to come. This is in accordance with AACS-LA, (which has not made public the specifications for AACS 2.0), the BDA and the movie studios.”

Noting that the debate over copying commercial movie discs for home use has “raged on for decades”, Fengtao says that the practice of decrypting copy protection technology has done so too and is not likely to stop in the foreseeable future. Even the fact that AACS 2.0 requires an Internet connection for Ultra HD Blu-ray discs to be played back for the first time is unlikely to stop the problem.

“Now here comes the question: will there be a solution to crack AACS 2.0? Likely, there will be, publicly or secretly,” the company says. Nevertheless, Fengtao insists that it won’t be behind the effort.

The company won’t be shutting down though. Fengtao says that it will concentrate its development efforts on DVDFab and its support for editing 4K/UHD content.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Planet: Google weiß, wo du das Foto gemacht hast

Google-Forscher haben einen Algorithmus entwickelt, der den Aufnahmeort eines Fotos bestimmen soll. Das System analysiert dazu geocodierte Fotos und lernt, Ähnlichkeiten zu erkennen. (Google, Grafiksoftware)

Google-Forscher haben einen Algorithmus entwickelt, der den Aufnahmeort eines Fotos bestimmen soll. Das System analysiert dazu geocodierte Fotos und lernt, Ähnlichkeiten zu erkennen. (Google, Grafiksoftware)

Tablet: Apple soll ein kleines iPad Pro planen

Das nächste iPad soll nicht iPad Air 3 heißen, sondern wie das größte iPad die Bezeichnung Pro im Namen tragen. Die Hardwareausstattung der beiden Geräte soll nahezu identisch sein. Auch eine Stifteingabe mit dem Apple Pencil soll möglich sein. (Ipad Air 2, Apple)

Das nächste iPad soll nicht iPad Air 3 heißen, sondern wie das größte iPad die Bezeichnung Pro im Namen tragen. Die Hardwareausstattung der beiden Geräte soll nahezu identisch sein. Auch eine Stifteingabe mit dem Apple Pencil soll möglich sein. (Ipad Air 2, Apple)

Sindelfingen: Mercedes entlässt Roboter

Mercedes Benz will viele Fließband-Roboter in seinem größten Werk abschaffen und mehr durch Arbeitskräfte erledigen lassen. Der Grund sind die vielen Individualisierungsmöglichkeiten der Fahrzeuge. (Roboter, Technologie)

Mercedes Benz will viele Fließband-Roboter in seinem größten Werk abschaffen und mehr durch Arbeitskräfte erledigen lassen. Der Grund sind die vielen Individualisierungsmöglichkeiten der Fahrzeuge. (Roboter, Technologie)

Beaglecore: Beagleboard in der Miniversion

Von einem deutschen Unternehmen stammt eine Minivariante des Bastelrechners Beaglebone Black. Diese richtet sich vor allem an professionelle Nutzer. (Beagleboard, Linux)

Von einem deutschen Unternehmen stammt eine Minivariante des Bastelrechners Beaglebone Black. Diese richtet sich vor allem an professionelle Nutzer. (Beagleboard, Linux)

AT&T sues Louisville to stop Google Fiber from using its utility poles

Lawsuit could delay Google construction, give AT&T head start in fiber race.

AT&T today sued the local government in Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky to stop a new ordinance designed to give Google Fiber access to utility poles.

AT&T's lawsuit in US District Court in Louisville says the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government's ordinance is invalid because it conflicts with and is preempted by the Federal Communications Commission's pole attachment regulations. AT&T also argues that under Kentucky law, only the state Public Service Commission has jurisdiction to regulate pole attachments.

WDRB posted a copy of the lawsuit.

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Zuckerberg condemns Facebook staffers for anonymous tags at work

Site’s virtual walls forbid anonymity, but founder calls out issue on real-life walls.

The Facebook signature wall in question is much bigger than this one, by the way. (credit: Matteo Artizzu)

Facebook may require real names to post on the social network's so-called "walls," but for the company's own real-life equivalent, that does not appear to be the case. As a result, co-founder Mark Zuckerberg reportedly posted a private company-wide memo condemning a particular wave of anonymous activity on its "signature wall."

According to a Gizmodo report, Zuckerberg took issue on Wednesday with someone crossing out part of the phrase "Black Lives Matter"—which was written on the company's giant, dry-erase wall next to other staffers' and guests' signatures and drawings—and changing it to read "all lives matter." The Zuckerberg memo alleged that this had happened multiple times to the Facebook signature wall, and he called out the anonymous activity: "Despite my clear communication at Q&A last week that this was unacceptable... this has happened again."

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Report of lab-made sperm spawns fertility treatment hopes, skepticism

Chinese scientists say they coaxed mouse stem cells into sperm used to produce pups.

(credit: Lisa Roe)

What happens in the testes, stays in the testes. At least, that’s according to frustrated researchers who have spent years trying to understand and recreate the process that generates sperm. But now, in a satisfying data release, a group of Chinese researchers report that they’ve finally cracked that nut.

In the study, published Thursday in Cell Stem Cell, the researchers describe using mouse stem cells to generate rudimentary sperm that was used to fertilize eggs and produce healthy mouse pups. If true, the study could pave the way for the development of human sperm in lab dishes for fertility treatments.

“The results are super-exciting and important,” Jacob Hanna, a stem cell scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, told Nature. However, several other researchers said they were skeptical of the data and anxious to see the results repeated in other researchers’ hands. “You have to be very cautious about the implications of this paper,” Mitinori Saitou of Kyoto University said.

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Onda Obook12 convertible notebook features Atom x7, 4GB RAM

Onda Obook12 convertible notebook features Atom x7, 4GB RAM

A few months after launching a convertible notebook with an 11.6 inch display and an Intel Atom x5 processor, Onda seems to be ready to launch a new model with a 12.2 inch screen and a more powerful Atom x7 processor. The same AliExpress store that leaked the new Teclast X3 Pro has posted listings […]

Onda Obook12 convertible notebook features Atom x7, 4GB RAM is a post from: Liliputing

Onda Obook12 convertible notebook features Atom x7, 4GB RAM

A few months after launching a convertible notebook with an 11.6 inch display and an Intel Atom x5 processor, Onda seems to be ready to launch a new model with a 12.2 inch screen and a more powerful Atom x7 processor. The same AliExpress store that leaked the new Teclast X3 Pro has posted listings […]

Onda Obook12 convertible notebook features Atom x7, 4GB RAM is a post from: Liliputing

Teclast X3 Pro is a 2-in-1 tablet with Core M, 8GB RAM, Windows 10

Teclast X3 Pro is a 2-in-1 tablet with Core M, 8GB RAM, Windows 10

Chinese tablet maker Teclast seems to have a new Windows tablet on the way, and it’s a doozy. The company hasn’t officially announced it yet, but an AliExpress product listing for the upcoming Teclast X3 Pro spills pretty much all the details. It’s a tablet with an 11.6 inch full HD display, an Intel Core […]

Teclast X3 Pro is a 2-in-1 tablet with Core M, 8GB RAM, Windows 10 is a post from: Liliputing

Teclast X3 Pro is a 2-in-1 tablet with Core M, 8GB RAM, Windows 10

Chinese tablet maker Teclast seems to have a new Windows tablet on the way, and it’s a doozy. The company hasn’t officially announced it yet, but an AliExpress product listing for the upcoming Teclast X3 Pro spills pretty much all the details. It’s a tablet with an 11.6 inch full HD display, an Intel Core […]

Teclast X3 Pro is a 2-in-1 tablet with Core M, 8GB RAM, Windows 10 is a post from: Liliputing