The rumors have been floating around for a while now but the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) licensing authority has finally made it official: both HD DVD and Blu Ray have been cracked. More specifically, the keys used to unlock commercial films have been stolen while the actual encryption used for the discs remains intact. Regardless, those of you with eyepatches and parrots on your shoulders can now "backup" high-def discs to your hard drive. And if you pay any attention to the torrent scene, you've likely already noticed that folks aren't keeping these backup files to themselves. Shocking!

For more on the hack:
- see this Engadget post