JUST when rights holders thought they were getting the upper hand in the war on piracy, a world first has been achieved and it’s bad news for content creators.

The latest example of pirates getting the upper hand in the war on piracy is the fact they have been able to circumvent the AACS 2.0 encryption for Ultra HD Blu-ray discs for the first time. In less technical terms, this means there will soon be a plethora of previously rare 4K content available to illegally download from torrent websites.

What is 4K?

In short, 4K is a resolution that has enough pixels to fill four Full HD 1080p screens, which means it’s able to display four times the level of detail. Despite most new televisions being 4K compatible, people have previously needed an UHD Blu-ray DVD player or internet over 15 Mbps to stream content in 4K.

Until now.

If the apparent cracked copy of a UHD Blu-ray Disc surfacing online is authentic, the floodgates will soon be open for downloadable 4K content online. Since being discovered on HD-focused BitTorrent tracker UltraHDclub, the 4K rip of Smurfs 2 has been met with praise by commenters impressed by the fact the uploader has been able to circumvent the encryption, which was long believed to be unbreakable.
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“This is history in the making and I`m proud and glad to be able to participate and experience it first hand. This is so freakin amazing and it feels sort of unreal but yet it isn’t which is the best part,” said one commenter.

“Great job! Congratulations to the person/team who achieved this awesome milestone. I’ve got nothing but love for you!” wrote another.
However, there is the small chance that all might not be as it seems.

After speaking with an expert at a well-known torrent distribution, TorrentFreak discovered some small discrepancies.

“This means that it’s warranted to remain reserved when it comes to definitive ‘cracked’ claims at this time.”
Those attempting to authenticate the content have a long wait ahead, with the 53.30GB file only offering limited seeders — a “peer” whose computer holds the complete file to share. If the claims do hold merit, it could spell bad news for rights holders.