DVD Jon cracks Apple’s AirPort Express

The Norwegian hacker known as "DVD Jon" -- famous for cracking the encryption codes on DVDs -- hit again last week when he released a software key that unlocks Apple's wireless streaming technology.

On his website, Jon Lech Johansen posted the RHS public key for Apple's AirPort Express, a wireless access point that can also broadcast iTunes tracks to stereo gear elsewhere in the house. That key, as well as an also-just-released tool Johansen dubbed "JustePort," will pave the way for other applications to work with AirPort Express.

Johansen, now 20, has cracked Apple's copy-protection technologies in the past, including a November 2003 hack of iTunes itself. But he's most famous for DeCSS, a tool that broke DVD copy-protection schemes and let users watch movies on Linux. He was only 15 when he wrote and released DeCSS in 1999.

In early 2003, he was acquitted by a Norwegian court on charges brought after the Motion Picture Association of America filed a complaint; early this year, he was acquitted again on appeal.

Johansen doesn't seem to be afraid of legal proceedings: his blog has the defiant title of "So Sue Me."

Last week however, Johansen's website was off-line, although some content cached by Google could still be viewed.