Sony and AACS targetted in encryption patent lawsuit
Encryption company Certicom has recently filed a lawsuit against Sony corporation.
The suit is claiming that multiple Sony product technologies, including AACS (used by Blu-ray and the PS3), Digital Transmission Content protection (used by Sony i.LINK) and others are infringing upon existing encryption technology patents owned by Certicom.
“Certicom has done extensive work in elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), and the patents in question build on this work. The patents have already been licensed by groups like the US National Security Agency, which paid $25 million back in 2003 for the right to use 26 Certicom patents, including the two in the Sony case. Now, Certicom wants Sony to pay up, claiming that encryption present in several key Sony technologies violates Certicom patents on “Strengthened public key protocol” and “Digital signatures on a Smartcard.” “
From a quick look at the Certicom patent, it appears to detail concepts of applying certain multiplication methods to encryption technology. If this lawsuit happens to go well for Certicom, the ramifications on the optical storage and industry companies could be staggering. AACS is used by both HD DVD and Blu-ray high definition optical storage formats. Did AACS and Sony really infringe upon Certicom patents? The courts will be deciding on this one. In the meantime, we will stay tuned for any updates.
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