Hello world, I"ve got some good news and some bad news.Let’s start with the good.... (tumble weed passes by)Ok, and now onto the badVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0 is the last version you"ll ever see.We hoped this day would never come, but it has, and I can promise you, nobody is more gutted about it than I am. What started as a bit of fun, putting a GUI around some existing code, turned into something that I can only describe as ‘part of me’ – yes, I know that’s sad ;-) As I"ve recently been made aware (by a letter, hand delivered to my door, last Tuesday), due to some law that was changed back in October 2003, circumventing copy protection isn"t allowed. Ok so it has taken a while (almost 2 years), but eventually "a certain company" has decided they don"t like what I"m doing (circumventing their protection) and have come at me like a pack of wolves. I"ve no choice but to cease everything to do with DVD Decrypter.I realise this is going to be one of those "that sucks - fight them!" kinda things, but at the end of the day, it"s my life and I"m not about to throw it all away (before it has even really started) attempting to fight a battle I can"t possibly win. If 321 Studios can"t do it with millions, what chance do I have with £50?! As I"m sure most of you have already noticed, the site has been down for a few days. That surprised me as much as the next person (slight breakdown in communication), or I would have issued this statement on it directly. So anyway, from this point forward, I"m no longer permitted to provide any sort of assistance with anything that helps people infringe the rights of "a certain company".That means, no more emails, no more forum posts, no PM"s, no nothing! END OF STORY.The domain name will be transferred over to the company by the end of the week (9th June, according to the undertakings I have to sign) so don"t email it thinking "Oh, I"ll just ask LIGHTNING UK! for support on this". You"ll not be getting the intended recipient and could be landing yourself in sh1t! With 3.5.4.0 being the last version, it makes sense for everyone to disable the "check for new versions" feature, as obviously there won"t be any. Of course what I really mean is that you should all stop using the program out of respect for the company’s rights. Anyone hosting DVD Decrypter is advised to cease doing so immediately. I"ve the feeling they won"t stop with just me. I"m having to contact anyone I know of that is (at the very least, the "mirror" sites), and tell them to stop. Copies of those emails must also be sent to the solicitors so they can check I"m doing everything I"m supposed to. If I don’t, I die. It is of course down to the owners of those sites to react how they want to. It"s not my job to force you to do anything you don"t want to, I"m just giving you some friendly advice. Maybe it"s just me, but I see this as a bit of an "end of an era". I realise there are other tools, but there"s no telling how much longer they"ll last, and not only that, mine was the oldest! I"ve met loads of great people over the years and I want to take this opportunity to wish them every success for the future - yes DDBT peeps, that includes you lot! : "(I hope you"ve all enjoyed my contribution to the DVD scene and maybe I"ll see ya around sometime. LIGHTNING UK! (Author of the once "Ultimate DVD Ripper", DVD Decrypter)
Alternative program, Slysoft AnyDVD. This program is awesome, however you must clean the original dvd real good before rippin'. http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvd.html
Another shovelful of dirt in the face of liberty's corpse. The Durants once wrote: "Democracies are but hectic interludes [before dictatorship]." As we hurtle, head-long, towards dictatorship few seem to even notice. Woody Allen once said, "Nothing works and nobody cares." The slow death of freedom, before our passive, apathetic eyes is a fact. A fact only confirmed by tyranny such as this. The saddest thing is, we're actually smiling as they fit us for the fetters. That which a million Americans have died for is slowly evaporating in the strangulation of the bureaucrats and an out-of-control, despotic judiciary. Our children will not even know the truncated, facade of liberty that we did. The last people to truly know freedom we in the US call "the Greatest Generation." They are in their late 70s and 80s now. 18,000 WWII vets a day die. At least they'll be spared the site of the Dictator whenever he or she actually emerges from the shadows and proclaims his or her right to rule. La liberté est morte. Elle était deja seulement un écho de 1776.
AnyDVD is a righteous program. It even had some features the already deep lamented above-mentioned prog. Let us all support AnyDVD with our dollars. It is vital to the survival of the vestige of freedom in entertainment. If it disappears, then cinema and television will, well, this excerpt from a Star Trek: the Next Generation epidsode describes what till happen: Wesley Crusher: "What was television." Data: "A form of entertainment which died out early in the 21st century." Support them by purchasing the programs they offer. Freedom, what little that's left, cannot afford people taking a freeride on AnyDVD. For the sake of the rule of law in the US (if not other countries), buy this program. DMCA violates both the "fair use" provisions of federal law as well as the AHRA (American Home Recording Act of 1991). The above-mentioned company (which specializes in what is in arguably rights-destruction technology) creates technology which violates both of these laws. The AHRA charges several cents for each blank CD-R, DAT, MiniDisc, VHS & cassette tape sold in the US. These pennies accumulate in a fund. This fund then pays royalties out to the very companies who are buying rights destruction technology. Contact your Congressperson, Senator, the Department of Justice and the FCC and demand that all royalty payments cease to ALL companies which employ rights destruction technology in their products. Its galling enough that we cannot preserve the entertainment our hard earned dollars buy.* It's even more obscene that we are forced to help fund this oppression with every blank piece of media we buy. *(My kid can destroy a $20 DVD faster than B*ll G*te$ can make a $100K. Naturally, I'm supposed to pony up another $20.)
