I WOULD READ THIS,Settec Alpha-DVD protection used on German Mr.& Mrs.Smith

Settec Alpha-DVD protection used on German Mr.& Mrs.Smith
Posted by Dan Bell on 08 February 2006 - 14:55 - Source: Heise

Today from Heise, we learn of a DVD movie copy protection that will be of interest to those that believe in Fair Use backups or are concerned with the possibility of computer malfunction from the effects of this protection and even those that simply have privacy concerns.

The Kinowelt title "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is the first German Video-DVD to contain the Alpha-DVD protection from the Korean company Settec . This protection installs on PCs before playback of the DVD and like some other protections, Alpha-DVD accomplishes it's anti-copying effect by using corrupted sectors. In addition to this, upon inserting the DVD, the user is presented with a dialog box that is a request to accept an End User License Agreement (EULA) that begins with the following text:

"In order to activate this technology, a software adaption has to be made on your computer [...]. This includes a modification of the operating system, that has been evaluated by the manufacturers of these systems (1) and found to be harmless."

Upon denying the EULA, Windows ejects the DVD again - this is the same behaviour was already shown by the Media Player that was used on Sony BMG's XCP protected Audio-CDs. Upon accepting the EULA, the installation programs adds three files (cmtl.dat, dmdmgr.exe and hadl.dll) to the system32 folder and configures dmdmgr.exe as "SystemManager", followed by dmdmgr.exe searching for ASPI and ASAPI drivers.

Settec's copy protection appears to be very radical during system surveillance. According to user reports in several online forums, DVD burners and virtual drives have been inaccessible. Heise online could not confirm these reports, but several other irregularities appeared in our editorial office: One PC crashed even before accepting the EULA, a second one consequently burned coasters after installation of this copy blocker - writing data NOT video DVD - even permanently ruining an RW disc. On a third PC burning a data DVD with installed Alpha-DVD was possible, but with a much lower speed. The drive noticeably stopped during the burning process.

Although Settec offers a deinstallation routine, they try to make accessing it as difficult as possible. First of all you have to enter your email address on Settec's website. Several requests with the same address were denied with a message that "Alpha DISC protection can only be removed once". Soon after this the user receives a direct link to the uninstaller together with a 32 characters alphanumeric key code. This one has to be entered in the uninstaller.

The deinstallation tool also requests confirmation of an EULA. Afterward the program connects to Settec's server via Internet for verifying the serial. On PCs without Internet access, deinstallation fails with a not very helpful "Please check if the key code you received via email was entered correctly" message. The same message is shown if Internet connections have to be made with a proxy server. On the other hand the deinstallation routine reports a successful run on clean systems, although Alpha-DVD has never been installed on them.

The Alpha-DVD EULA claims "The movie contained on this DVD usually cannot be played back on PC" but this is not true. If users deactivate the Auto run functionality or keep the shift key pressed while inserting the DVD, the DRM software does not start and the DVD can be played back without problems. Another possibility is to ignore the EULA and at the same time start a DVD player software. Users of a Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) also don't see the protection if they configured their system in a way that it starts with the media center interface. MCE blocks auto run of DVD-ROM contents similar to the software DVD player TheaterTekDVD.

In Germany "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" from Kinowelt is the only title to contain Settec's DVD copy protection using revision 1.0.3.5. Rumours say that Alpha-DVD will soon also be used on different Video-DVDs. Previous Alpha-DVD versions were used on the Korean movie "Old Boy" and the swiss "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" disc.

With all the affords, Alpha-DVD does not reach their primary aim: well established tool for copying Video-DVDs transfer that disc's data to the hard disc - disregarding the copy protection.

Through this translation from the German magazine Heise, we can see that this type of copy protection may be of concern to those that use a PC to playback DVD movies. At least through articles like this, we can thankfully stay informed and possibly avoid the purchase of such titles that contain these intrusive and annoying behaviors. The insult to injury in the whole ordeal is that the only one that is harmed is the end user as we can read from the translation above, the copy protection is ineffective against common backup tools! Therefore, the movie will wind up on the Internet in short order, thus defeating the purpose of the Settec protection. Interestingly, on the Settec website, they show a press release here, indicating that Sony/BMG has adopted their Alpha-Audio "superior technology".
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13038

 

Enable/Disable Autorun

How To Enable/Disable Autorun (Windows 95/98/Me)
Access the System Properties Dialog. Using Control Panel: My Computer: Properties or Explorer: My Computer: Properties.

Select the Device Manager tab.

Select the CD-ROM folder.

Select the entry for your CD-ROM drive.

Select Properties.

Select the Settings tab.

Turn on or off the Auto insert notification option.

Select OK.

Select OK


How To Enable/Disable Autorun (Windows NT/2000)
Start RegEdit (regedt32.exe).

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/Cdrom.

Edit the Autorun value to '1' to enable autorn, and '0' to disable autorun.

Close RegEdit


How To Enable/Disable Autorun (Windows XP)
Open Windows Explorer by pressing the Windows + "e" key.

Right-click the desired CD-ROM and select Properties from the menu.

Select the AutoPlay tab.

Select each item from the pulldown list and for the Action to perform, select "Take no action" to disable autorun, or pick the apporpriate action to take if enabling autorun.

Select OK.

 

BMG, a Major Music Label, Adopted Alpha-Audio Technology

BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group), a major music label and pioneer adopting CCCD (Copy Control CD) technology for CD-Audio, decided to choose Settec’s Alpha-Audio technology to protect its music labels from illegal piracy. As for protecting method, BMG has been applying CDS200 technology, which is copy protection technology provided by Macrovision, one of leaders in the copy protection technology market. BMG’s adoption of Settec’s technology can be interpreted as BMG’s high interest in Settec’s superior technology.

Besides its robust primary copy resistance technology, Alpha-Audio M3 type technology, which is applied to BMG’s music albums, offers the best playability/compatibility. Such high playability and compatibility is expected to resolve consumer’s claims caused from inplayability to a greater extent. Moreover, protection for additionally supplemented multimedia contents is another merit only available by employing Settec’s technology. Basically, Alpha-Audio technology prevents one-to-one copying and ripping, an activity converting audio tracks into computer files. Moreover, copying of additional multimedia contents such as music video and bonus track played by Alpha-Audio player is copy controlled as well. Lyrics and photo albums are also supported through proprietary player and built-in banner allows an easy and direct access to the designated website.

“This is a wonderful result of our incessant effort for international marketing activities. With this major deal (with BMG) accomplished, I believe that Settec would continuously develop further relation with other major labels such as EMI, Warner and Universal. Please keep an eye for our newly launching “Alpha-Audio X-Type,” a revolutionary version of audio protection technology, coming out in year 2004. And we promise that we would continuously strive to work on better and stronger copy protection technology boosting overall sales of music labels. Above all, it is my pleasure that, finally, they came to realize the technical superiority of Alpha-Audio Technology. About this time in the upcoming year, you can expect that Settec would have all four major music labels as our clients” said Dong-Kyu Kim, vice president of Settec. Currently, all four major music labels (BMG, Universal, EMI and Warner) are applying Macrovision’s copy protection technology to their products, while SONY is using its own.

BMG’s adoption of Settec’s technology is notable in the sense that domestic IT firm earned a respect from multi-national conglomerate with its robust technology.
More information about BMG and BMG products can be found on the web at www.bmg.com
http://www.settec.co.kr/bbs/view.ph...on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=1

 

Further info article on this protection

http://www.settec.co.kr/eng/pro_alphadvd.htm

 

AnyDVD should take care of it. It took care of the other BMG junk.

 

Post by James at Slysoft from December

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=162270