DescentBB

Krom wrote:I'd think most of these might break HDCP, or if they don't break HDCP then they can only route the signal to one device at a time and it is just a HDMI switch rather than a "splitter".

Granted HDCP is already permanently broken since someone decrypted the master key for it, but that doesn't mean your bluray player/tv will work well together through one of these.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/hdcp-master-key-cracked wrote:..."researchers" at the Secure Hardware Group of Ruhr University of Bochum (RUB) in Germany claim to have cracked Intel's HDCP using hardware.

And they did it for around $267 and parts you can obtain and use on your own.

So how does this differ from the cracked master key - accomplished back in 2010? Well, the cracked master key allows the generation of new keys that will work with players, etc - thus removing the issue of "revoked" keys from inhibiting the copying of Blu-ray and other protected content. The trouble is, the presence of this master key wasn't terribly significant since there would need to be hardware created in order for it to have any practical use in circumventing copy protection on any large scale.

This new crack, since it involves hardware, is the realization of that vulnerability. Now, with a $267 board, you can run HDMI into a box and get unprotected digital or analogue content at 1080p resolution out of it. Here's how they claimed to have done it:

Intel's HDCP encryption was cracked using a "man-in-the-middle" (MITM) attack with an inexpensive field programmable gate array (FPGA) board. The build used an ATLYS board from Digilent, a HDMI port equipped Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA, and a serial RS232 port for communication. The board was able to manipulate and decode the communication between the Blu-ray player and the HDTV without being detected.

Whether or not that's terribly practical is another question entirely.
...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection#Master_key_release wrote: Intel has threatened legal action against anyone producing hardware to circumvent the HDCP, possibly under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.[11]

fliptw wrote:you want an HDMI switch.

but you might as well splurge on a mid-range receiver and speakers..

http://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-and-intel-sue-over-hdcp-crack-piracy-121220/ wrote:Warner Bros. and Intel’s daughter company Digital Content Protection have filed a lawsuit against a hardware manufacturer that creates devices enabling consumers to bypass HDCP copy protection. The devices, which presumably use the leaked HDCP master key to convert digital to analog signals, can be useful for connecting digital devices to analog displays. However, they could also be used by pirates to copy pay-per-view, on-demand, and other premium content.