14 DAY TRIAL // A Norwegian programmer has developed a tool for removing some encoding surrounding the Windows Media Player, in a move to give open-source media players a chance to access the streams.
Jon Lech Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, the 21-year-old who cracked DVD encryption security, has managed to break the encryption coding in Microsoft's Windows Media Player.
The crack is designed to let people use Media Player on a variety of platforms, including open source operating systems.
The young man posted details about the tool on his So Sue Me blog on Wednesday.
"By removing the encoding around NSC files that store data, Johansen is able to allow open-source video media players and streaming services to tap into multicast streams", said Derk-Jan Hartman, a developer with VideoLAN, a nonprofit open-source video media player organization. Hartman and another VideoLAN member asked Johansen to come to their assistance, Hartman said.
"VideoLAN members need to multicast video, but the Windows Media Player creates NSC files that contain encoded text," Hartman said. "You need that information in order to connect to the video stream."
As a result, VideoLAN members asked Johansen if he could reverse-engineer the code, which he did earlier this week and posted the tool to his site.
Johansen, also known for tweaking Google's Video Viewer and reopening Apple Computer's iTunes backdoor., has "the habit" of breaking copy systems to allow multiple operating systems to use commercial software or simply to strip out digital rights management code.
He is co-founder of a group called the Masters of Reverse Engineering, and cracked the copy protection on Apple's iTunes within 24 hours in March.