AACS 4K Blu-ray copy protection scheme allegedly cracked

Nothing stays protected forever, and now it looks that hackers have compromised the AACS 2.0 copy protection scheme from the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format after just a year on the market.

According to Torrent Freak, release group UltraHDclub has boasted of released the "First Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc in the NET!", with a 53GB copy of 'The Smurfs 2'. The torrent suggests it is a bit-for-bit copy of a genuine 4K Blu-ray, rather than a recompressed HDMI capture. The AACS 2.0 copy protection scheme is touted as a heavily evolved version of the first iteration found on the Blu-ray format, developed by a collection of industry heavy weights such as Warner Bros, Disney, Microsoft and Intel. If this is indeed true (and we wouldn't be surprised to have it confirmed), it spells big trouble for the fledgling format.