The crew over SlySoft isn't messing around, as just days after the v6.4.1.1 update hit the web, along comes yet another version to run laps around Big Content's best efforts. Posted yesterday, AnyDVD HD 6.4.5.0 adds in support for "a new version" of BD+ that's apparently included on films such as Jumper and a new flavor of AACS. This update also fixes a few minor problems with CSS logging and key retrieval, not to mention quirks found when removing ALPHA-DVD protection. You know the drill, head on down and stay current.

[Via CDFreaks]

Regardless of what those oh-so-knowledgeable analysts had to say, we all knew this day was coming. Yep, that highly-touted, totally "impenetrable" copy protection technology known as BD+ has officially been brought to its knees, and it's not at all surprising to hear that we have SlySoft to thank. The AnyDVD 6.1.9.6 beta has quite a comical change log too, and aside from noting that users now have the ability to backup their BD+ movies and watch titles sans the need for HDCP-compliant equipment, it also includes a candid note to Twentieth Century Fox informing the studio that its prior assumptions about BD+'s effectiveness were apparently incorrect. You know the drill, hit the read link below to try 'er out.

[Thanks, Aaron]

Looking for a new way to use FairUse4WM? Have a Netflix account? If so, go on and roll your sleeves up, as a crafty (and acrimonious) fellow has managed to find a workaround that enables you to not only decrypt the DRM-laced "Watch Now" movie files, but save them to your hard drive for future viewing. Admittedly, the process is somewhere between painless and potentially frustrating, but the gist of it involves Windows Media Player 11, FairUse4WM, Notepad, a Netflix account, and a broadband connection. Through a series of hoop jumping, users can now strip the "Watch Now" files free of DRM and watch them at their leisure and on any video-playing device they choose. Granted, there's certainly issues of legality mixed in here, but where there's a will, there's a way. [Warning: Read link language potentially NSFW]

[Via TVSquad]

We must say, it feels awfully good to not be Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group right about now, as he's probably taking an incredible amount of flack for his nonchalant comments made in the latest issue of HMM. As seen in the scan, Mr. Doherty claims that "BD+, unlike AACS, which suffered a partial hack last year, won't likely be breached for ten years." As if that weren't comical enough, he also added that "if it were, the damage would affect one film and one player," essentially nullifying his prior claim of invincibility. Of course, he did mention that BD+ offered up "four times the safeguards on top of AACS against piracy," so we'll give the oh-so-inundated hackers about four times longer than usual to prove this guy wrong.

[Via Slashdot]

Just about everyone and their respective grandmothers have now gotten a whiff of this whole "BackupHDDVD" thing that's been floating around, as muslix64 was able to break down the HD DVD content protection and allow folks to sidestep the AACS boundaries. The folks over at Slyck sat down to chat with the infamous hacker about his motives, his work, and the obligatory "hopes and dreams," and as we expected, he's simply yet another (albeit intelligent and determined) individual that's frustrated with the limitations that DRM presents. He refers to himself as simply an "upset customer" looking to "enforce fair use," further explaining that he wasn't able to appropriately play back an HD DVD film that he purchased "on a non-HDCP HD monitor." He also said that his success with HD DVD led to his shared efforts while taking down Blu-ray's content protection, and noted that any stronger protection to limit the abilities of purchased media would likely be "too costly to manufacture." Lastly, he showed a bit of humbleness by admitting that he "probably wasn't the first to do this," and suggested that the ones before him probably just kept quiet, but his overriding purpose with all of this is to simply "enforce fair use, not piracy" and to "benefit the consumers." Sure, there are certainly polarized camps when it comes to breaking down content protection, but before jumping to any conclusions, be sure to hit the read link and read the full dialogue.