To the surprise of exactly no one, a hacker recently figured out how to crack the Digital Rights Management protection on every single Blu-Ray and HD DVD in existence, using only a computer, an Xbox 360, and an example movie.

Supposedly Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs had an incredibly complex protection scheme in place. After all, they have oodles of gigabytes of storage to work with. So much for that.

People would likely play TV shows, movies, and other videos on their cell phones and iPods a lot more often if it wasn't for such protection systems. Then it would be a no-brainer: If you purchase and download a movie file on your computer, you can then play it on your mobile device without question. Instead, media companies have been resorting to complex protection schemes, thwarting honest consumers while piracy continues to run rampant.

Hollywood faces up to DRM flop (via The Guardian)