Hacker posts crack for Google video software

Norwegian man had previously unlocked DVD protection codes

MSN Tech and Gadgets

Great tech gadgets: When spouses collide

Tech Holiday Gift Guide

10 iPhone apps for the holidays that sparkle
The holidays are stressful, but an iPhone or iPod Touch can help. These 10 apps, pulled from PC World's expansive iPhone App Guide can help you get the most out of the holiday season.

Digital photo frames not always a ‘snap’ to use

10 best Nintendo DS games of the year

Hot holiday gifts

Real Women’s Guide to Technology

Getting the most from your HDTV

An MSN special that focuses on consumer technologies that can benefit women.

Pick the perfect mobile phone companion

Why smartphones are so smart

Tech and gadgets videos

Fight off the Nazis in 'The Saboteur'
'The Saboteur' is a stylized shooter set in Nazi occupied Paris in the 1940's. Msnbc.com's video game reporter Todd Kenreck takes a closer look at the game's unique style.

‘Rogue Warrior’ not worth the mission

Robot made from scratch and scraps

‘Sexting’ bullying cited in girl’s suicide

5,000 computers hijacked to search for UFOs

Video

Tech Watch
The latest in technology and entertainment news.

Auto Tech

6 high-tech boosts for the auto industry

A better economy may lure buyers, but these trends could seal the deal.

Go to Auto Tech

updated 11:57 a.m. ET June 29, 2005

OSLO, Norway - The Norwegian who became a hacker hero for developing software to unlock copy-protection codes on DVD movies said he needed only one day to crack Google Inc.'s new video viewer.

Jon Lech Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, posted software on his "So Sue Me" Web site that he says modifies the viewer so that it plays videos hosted on any server. The company's Google Video Viewer, in turn, was modified from the free VLC media player to restrict it to playing video hosted on Google's own servers.

Google officials did not immediately return e-mail and phone messages left early Wednesday at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Johansen, 21, became a hero to hackers at age 15, when he posted software called DeCSS to unlock the Content Scrambling System, or CSS, the film industry used on DVD movies to prevent illegal copying. The act made Johansen a folk hero among hackers.

After the film industry complained, Norwegian authorities charged him with data break-in, but Johansen was acquitted at trial and on appeal.

Johansen, an advocate of the open-source philosophy of making software code freely available for inspection and sharing, has also repeatedly posted programs that circumvent the copy-protection technologies on Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes software.

Google's shares have more than tripled to more than $300 in the 10 months since their debut. Most of the company's income is from online advertising, although it could boost revenues by charging for some videos in the future.

The company has been stockpiling amateur and professional videos since April, when it asked users to submit their images, and the new viewer allows them to sample the collection for free.

The Google Video Viewer, consisting of about 1 megabyte and still officially in a "beta" test phase, was designed to do nothing but stream Google's videos through the Internet Explorer or Firefox Web browsers. Its limited scope meant it wouldn't be competing with the popular multimedia players made by Microsoft Corp. and RealNetworks Inc.