A security hole in Adobe Systems Inc. software, used to distribute movies and TV shows over the internet, is giving users free access to record and copy from Amazon.com Inc.'s video streaming service.
The problem exposes online video content to the rampant piracy that plagued the music industry during the Napster era and is undermining efforts by retailers, movie studios and television networks to cash in on a huge web audience.
"It's a fundamental flaw in the Adobe design. This was designed stupidly," said Bruce Schneier, a security expert who is also the chief security technology officer at British Telecom.
The flaw rests in Adobe's Flash video servers that are connected to the company's players installed in nearly all of the world's web-connected computers.
The software doesn't encrypt online content, but only orders sent to a video player such as start and stop play. To boost download speeds, Adobe dropped a stringent security feature that protects the connection between the Adobe software and its players.
"Adobe is committed to the security of all of our products, from our players to our server software. Adobe invests a considerable amount of ongoing effort to help protect users from potential vulnerabilities," it said in a statement.
Adobe said it issued a security bulletin earlier this month about how best to protect online content and called on its customers to couple its software security with a feature that verifies the validity of its video player.
An Amazon spokesman said content on the company's video on demand service, which offers as many as 40,000 movies and TV shows on its website, cannot be pirated using video stream catching software.
However, in tests by Reuters, at least one programme to record online video, the Replay Media Catcher from Applian Technologies, recorded movies from Amazon and other sites that use Adobe's encryption technology together with its video player verification.
"Adobe's (stream) is not really encrypted," said Applian chief executive officer Bill Dettering. "One of the downfalls with how they have architected the software is that people can capture the streams.
"I fully expect them to do something more robust in the near future."
Unlike Amazon, videos from Hulu.com, NBC.com and CBS.com are already free although the TV programmes are interrupted by commercials.
However, the stream catching software separates the commercials and the programme into two separate folders, so people can keep the programmes without the advertising.
Hulu.com, a video website owned by News Corp.'s Fox network and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, was the big networks' answer to YouTube, the popular video-sharing website where many users began uploading TV shows and other content owned by media companies.
The networks scrambled to post videos on their own sites in a bid to capture another stream of advertising revenue from a growing audience, but they have struggled with how best to show commercials which fund the programming when played on the web.
YouTube, which started the online video boom before being bought by Google Inc. for €1.1 billion in November 2006, has also struggled to cash in on its popularity even though its user base continues to mushroom.
The problem exposes online video content to the rampant piracy that plagued the music industry during the Napster era and is undermining efforts by retailers, movie studios and television networks to cash in on a huge web audience.
"It's a fundamental flaw in the Adobe design. This was designed stupidly," said Bruce Schneier, a security expert who is also the chief security technology officer at British Telecom.
The flaw rests in Adobe's Flash video servers that are connected to the company's players installed in nearly all of the world's web-connected computers.
The software doesn't encrypt online content, but only orders sent to a video player such as start and stop play. To boost download speeds, Adobe dropped a stringent security feature that protects the connection between the Adobe software and its players.
"Adobe is committed to the security of all of our products, from our players to our server software. Adobe invests a considerable amount of ongoing effort to help protect users from potential vulnerabilities," it said in a statement.
Adobe said it issued a security bulletin earlier this month about how best to protect online content and called on its customers to couple its software security with a feature that verifies the validity of its video player.
An Amazon spokesman said content on the company's video on demand service, which offers as many as 40,000 movies and TV shows on its website, cannot be pirated using video stream catching software.
However, in tests by Reuters, at least one programme to record online video, the Replay Media Catcher from Applian Technologies, recorded movies from Amazon and other sites that use Adobe's encryption technology together with its video player verification.
"Adobe's (stream) is not really encrypted," said Applian chief executive officer Bill Dettering. "One of the downfalls with how they have architected the software is that people can capture the streams.
"I fully expect them to do something more robust in the near future."
Unlike Amazon, videos from Hulu.com, NBC.com and CBS.com are already free although the TV programmes are interrupted by commercials.
However, the stream catching software separates the commercials and the programme into two separate folders, so people can keep the programmes without the advertising.
Hulu.com, a video website owned by News Corp.'s Fox network and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, was the big networks' answer to YouTube, the popular video-sharing website where many users began uploading TV shows and other content owned by media companies.
The networks scrambled to post videos on their own sites in a bid to capture another stream of advertising revenue from a growing audience, but they have struggled with how best to show commercials which fund the programming when played on the web.
YouTube, which started the online video boom before being bought by Google Inc. for €1.1 billion in November 2006, has also struggled to cash in on its popularity even though its user base continues to mushroom.