Corel Software, the company that purchased InterVideo last August, have issued a mandatory update to address the recent cracks that have extracted volume and title keys from AACS-protected Blu-ray and HD DVD titles. While the hackers responsible for the AACS cracks did not mention WinDVD by name, it was clear that they were using this software to make their discoveries. "Our decision stems from recent reports that hackers have illegally obtained certain software licensing keys and have used them to duplicate copyrighted content without prior authorization. Corel takes this situation very seriously. We have been working closely with our partners and other industry organizations to ensure we take the steps necessary to prevent copyright infringement from happening in the future," a Corel spokesperson explained in a press release.
The AACS system of copy protection was designed to adapt to hackers figuring out the Device Keys for playback units: compromised Device Keys can be revoked, and all new high-definition discs made afterwards will simply refuse to play on a revoked device. According to the AACS spec, only titles that are produced after the Device Key has been revoked will fail to play; existing titles should still play back without any problems. However, Corel warns WinDVD users that they should "Please be aware that failure to apply the update will result in AACS-protected HD DVD and BD playback being disabled." How and whether they really plan to go about disabling playback for HD discs is unclear.