================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: trei@process.com (Peter Trei) To: miniters@citadel.edu, cypherpunks@toad.com Subject: Re: VCRPLUS Huffman code Date: Tue, 05 Sep > Has anyone worked out the VCRPLUS code? It was partially broken a few years ago, and the results published in Cryptologia. I have a xerox in a carton somewhere. The break was for codes up to 4or 5 digits long, if I recall - this covers most of the major timeslots on the main stations. Longer codes cover odd timeslots on less popular stations. Code which implemented this partial crack was published on the net, and the VCR+ people got very upset about it - apparently they make money selling the codes to TV Guide and newspapers. It's protected as a trade secret, not a patent. It used a combination of lookup tables and Huffman codes, and included a certain amount of obfuscation to resist cracking. Peter Peter Trei Senior Software Engineer Purveyor Development Team Process Software Corporation http://www.process.com trei@process.com -- Tobin Fricke (aka LightRay) The Digital Forest BBS (714)586-6142 dr261@kanga.ins.cwru.edu KE6WHF Amateur Radio, 1:103/925 fido