Hacker Posts Crack for Google Software
Associated Press
Jun 29, 2005 3:26 PM (ET)
By DOUG MELLGREN
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20050629/D8B1FBPG0.html
OSLO, Norway (AP) - The Norwegian who became a hacker hero for developing
software to unlock copy-protection codes on DVD movies said he needed only
one day to crack Google Inc. (GOOG)'s new video viewer.
Jon Lech Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, posted software on his "So Sue
Me" Web site that he says modifies the viewer so that it plays videos
hosted on any server. The company's Google Video Viewer, in turn, was
modified from the free VLC media player to restrict it to playing video
hosted on Google's own servers.
Johansen's modification wasn't difficult as Google already had posted its
code on its Web site. And the change won't let users break any video
encryption; it only lets them view non-Google content.
"This modification of Google's open source video viewer does not compromise
the integrity and security of content available from Google Video in any
way," Google spokesman Nate Tyler said in a statement.
Nonetheless, he advised users against installing the change, saying "it
could result in security vulnerabilities on their computer and may disrupt
their computer's ability to access Google Video."
Johansen, 21, became a hero to hackers at age 15, when he posted software
called DeCSS to unlock the Content Scrambling System, or CSS, the film
industry used on DVD movies to prevent illegal copying. The act made
Johansen a folk hero among hackers.
After the film industry complained, Norwegian authorities charged him with
data break-in, but Johansen was acquitted at trial and on appeal.
Johansen, an advocate of the open-source philosophy of making software code
freely available for inspection and sharing, has also repeatedly posted
programs that circumvent the copy-protection technologies on Apple Computer
Inc. (AAPL)'s iTunes software.
Google's shares have more than tripled to more than $300 in the 10 months
since their debut. Most of the company's income is from online advertising,
although it could boost revenues by charging for some videos in the future.
The company has been stockpiling amateur and professional videos since
April, when it asked users to submit their images, and the new viewer
allows them to sample the collection for free.
The Google Video Viewer, consisting of about 1 megabyte and still
officially in a "beta" test phase, was designed to do nothing but stream
Google's videos through the Internet Explorer or Firefox Web browsers. Its
limited scope meant it wouldn't be competing with the popular multimedia
players made by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK)
---
On the Net:
Johansen's home page: http://www.nanocrew.net
Google Video Viewer: http://video.google.com
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
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