The infamous Norwegian hacker has opened up the encryption coding in the popular program, which could enable other applications to play NSC files designed specifically for the Media Player. Working backwards on an algorithm originally designed by Microsoft to protect streams from hack attacks, Johansen designed a decoder that other programs can use to play the files.
True to form, Johansen isn’t apologetic for the hack, saying the original encryption had no real purpose since hackers could still view the IP address and port of a stream by using the Netstat utility already bundled on Windows machines. He said his goal was simply to make content more widely available on alternative players and operating systems.
“Windows Media Player is not very good,” Johansen said. “Windows and Mac users should not be forced to use it to view [NSC] streams.”
Johansen said that Microsoft’s claims that the encryption protects the files simply don’t add up.
“It's more likely that the purpose is to prevent competing media players from supporting the NSC format,” he said.
Johansen first entered the public eye as a teenager in 1999, when he was accused of developing DeCSS, a computer program that enabled Linux PCs to play DVDs. The way the program worked, however, was by decrypting a DVD’s content, which also opened it up to illegal copying.
Prosecutors in Norway, backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, took Johansen to court twice on the issue, but he was eventually acquitted.
Johansen doesn’t show any favorites when it comes to improving other companies’ programs either. In March he created a number of patches for the digital rights management locks that Apple uses in its iTunes Music Store and its Airport wireless streaming software. Two months later he released a patch for Google’s media plugin, expanding that player’s compatibility as well.
