Perhaps ironically, hackers chose to break the copy-protection system in Universal's "Serenity," a 2005 science fiction film about a renegade crew of space outlaws. An informal, global alliance of hackers also deciphered the antipiracy protection on "12 Monkeys" and Peter Jackson's "King Kong."

The hackers are distributing copies of the films using BitTorrent, a once-controversial file-sharing tool that is working to clean up its reputation by forging partnerships with TV and movie companies.

Meanwhile, HD DVD and Blu-ray continue to duke it out for consumer votes that would elect one format the ultimate marketplace winner.

Security Background

Sony, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, along with the majority of Hollywood studios, back the Blu-ray standard, giving consumers a far greater catalog of movies to choose from. Warner Bros. and Paramount support both formats, while Universal has offered its exclusive support to HD DVD. Toshiba, Microsoft, and Intel also stand behind the HD DVD standard.

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray use the same copy-protection scheme, dubbed Advanced Access Content System (AACS). Technology, entertainment, and consumer electronics industry players, including members from both format camps, collaborated to create the system.

While both formats use AACS, Blu-ray adds additional layers of security. The Blu-ray Disc Association mandates that disc manufacturers embed a globally unique identifier in the Blu-ray media to prevent hardware from playing illegitimate discs.

There are varying opinions on how the hacking incidents will affect the format wars, but most analysts maintain that there is no hack-proof digital media and that honest, movie-buying consumers won't notice much of an impact.

Legal Stances

The companies behind AACS will, however, take an aggressive legal stance against the copyright violators, according to Phil Leigh, an Inside Digital Media analyst who pointed out that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has paved the way for lawsuits against copyright violators.

Consumers who look for a free ticket to popular DVD downloads on file-sharing networks could discover that Hollywood has learned some valuable lessons from the RIAA's antipiracy handbook, Leigh said. Beyond lawsuits, he noted, there are guerilla warfare strategies being fought on the front lines against music and movie piracy.

"There are a number of techniques that the media companies have used to frustrate the peer-to-peer networks," Leigh explained. Record labels, for example, have engaged third-parties to put up a lot of files that are labeled correctly but are "just static" when you open them, he said.