Isn't it strange how encryption on hardware and software always claims to be even stronger, yet it always gets cracked in the same short amount of time?

The encryption methods used on the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats were both far superior to the CSS system used on DVDs; yet, it seems the new tougher encryption system AACS has been almost as easy to beat.

Although the encryption has not been, technically, cracked; it has been beaten, in a shockingly easy way. I really can not believe how it was overlooked by the bodies involved. You can tell the solution to defeating the strong encryption was definitely low-tech as Arstechnica reports:

The solution was surprisingly low-tech: the user simply hit the PrintScreen key. The screen capture feature of the operating system allowed each frame to be digitally captured exactly as it was displayed on-screen. Since it would be impractical to sit around advancing movies frame by frame and hitting PrintScreen all day, a script was used to automate the process. Each frame resulted in a 2 MB image. The computers used were fast enough to capture 30 frames per second, enabling real-time capturing of the movies without dropped frames. For a 90-minute movie, this is 162,000 frames, or approximately 324 GB in total storage, so if you try this, make sure you have lots of free hard disk space! The sound tracks must be captured separately and then re-synched with the video, so this is by no means a trivial process.

What I find funny is that the hardware for either HD-DVD or the Blu-Ray format has not even reached anywhere near consumer levels, even for the tech enthusiasts who are always early adopters.

Now all I wonder is how long will it take for non compliant computers to run HD content without the proper DRM compliant hardware?