It would seem that there's absolutely nothing out there, no type of copy protection system that can resist the hard efforts of ingenious "security researchers", especially when the respective system is designed to protect valuable multimedia content (namely, movies). And the latest such example is none other than Sony's famous next-generation DVD format, the Blu-ray, which, apparently, has just been cracked by a company specialized in developing DVD copying tools.

Thus, according to the German website Golem.de, it would seem that the SlySoft company (the maker of such disc cloning tools as the AnyDVD, CloneDVD, etc.) has announced that it has managed to overcome BD+ protection, used generally for securing the contents of Blu-ray discs. Moreover, the company's CEO, Giancarlo Bettini, announced that a software tool meant to circumvent the Blu-ray copy protection system might actually be launched by the end of 2007.

Despite the fact that we're waiting to see if Bettini's claims are actually true, one thing's for sure. BD+ lasted a bit longer than its HD DVD counterpart, whose encryption keys were cracked back in early 2007. This copy protection system was announced back in June 2007 and allows each BD+ code to create an embedded virtual machine inside player hardware allowing for the introduction of some specific content protecting functions. A BD+ virtual layer can run diagnostics on the host environment to see if the disc player has been modified, or to verify the set of keys. Moreover, if any ripping attempts are noticed, the content encrypts itself in order to prevent future attempts.

Quite obviously, the practice of copying a Blu-ray disc is illegal, but even if SlySoft does come out with a working solution, there's always another problem: that of discs and recorders. For the time being, Blu-ray recorders are extremely expensive, and the same goes for blank discs, which retail for around 40 US dollars (close to the price of an original Blu-ray movie).

On the other hand, the possibility of copying Blu-ray discs might actually improve hardware sales, since most users will more likely buy a standalone player if they have a bunch of pirated discs available. This has happened time and time again over the past few years, and this is also the reason why Sony and the other major Blu-ray supporters might actually overlook this not so minor "transgression" from SlySoft.

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