AnyDVD The SlyRedFox

As many of you know, well at least some of you know that AnyDVD has closed its doors, or at least that's what they claim. But then they Resurface as RedFox (I preferred Slysoft), and did a song and dance about how they were forced shut, and then they reasserted their new albeit connected to the past credentials. To many of us it was a believable tale, because they've been there before, and it's quite possible they've found themselves there again. But here's where the tale gets broken!

AnyDVD resurfaces with the new moniker of RedFox, with the SlyFox logo now wearing a mask which seems increasingly appropriate as the Phoenix rises from its ashes. I immediately went to download the latest update, while wondering if my old license would still work, and it did. Even though I don't use AnyDVD much anymore, I was relieved because I felt I had encountered an old lost friend. All seemed well until the 8.x.x.x updates when I received the message that my license was no longer valid, and I would have to purchase a new lifetime license. Apparently the word lifetime has different meanings depending on who's interpreting it. What could possibly have SlyRedFox, honoring the original agreement for a few updates, and then reneging on it with the arrival of versions 8?

If they needed money then they could've asked for it and many of us would've donated to them just as we did to DVD Rebuilder. But they chose instead to use a cover story about how some of the original members needed a job, and as a result decided to keep things going. If the current owners are new then those who established it are gone, and AnyDVD's reputation along with it. If they are in fact the original developers then they've reneged on the original promised licenses, and hoped to escape it by claiming to be newly formed. I have the latest update that still carries my license, and I will use it as long as it proves useful, but unless the "sly redfox" group levels with it's supporters, then I'm done.


So does anyone else have an opinion on this or do we just go along with their charade as though nothing's changed?

 

In the time it took to write the above post, and return to the SlyRedFox's website, everything has changed. This is the message that was posted only minutes ago, right after several posts and threads of disaffected users were deleted.

Does that sound like the AnyDVD people that we used stand so firmly behind?

 

Assuming the original owner has parted ways or sold the entity,i don't see why the new owners are under any obligation to anyone to continue to give away free software.Wouldn't want to pay for updates to the version i bought.However for a new version i see no problem.The risk you take when purchasing any software or product/goods is that at some point all dev may stop,just add it to the pile of crap you've purchased & is now obsolete,i have a spare bedroom full.

 

The problem as I see it, is that the new owners are not new. By their own admission they're still the original developers, and in my view they're the original owners as well, because I really don't recall them being a stratified organization. Consider that no one really knew or knows who the original group was or is outside of Giancarla Bettini, because they've operated incognito. I can't see an imagined set of original owners abandoning a potentially valuable software simply because of a raid. They've had to move before so why wouldn't they move again? So in my here's what's really happening. The market for copy software has been dropping over the last several years, and SlySoft has effectively saturated the AnyDVD market. As a consequence there's probably not much money in continuing to market AnyDVD under the SlySoft brand. So why not fake a new owner rebuild scenario, cancel previous licenses, and then recycle an existing clientele base to increase revenue? If the current owners are new then those who established it are gone and AnyDVD's reputation with it. If they are in fact the original developers then they've reneged on the original promised licenses, and hoped to escape it by claiming to be newly formed.

One last thought, if Giancarla Bettini, the original owner of SlyFox has abandoned the software, then why shouldn't it be released to the Open Source Community, or the Open Source Community just assume control over its future development?

 

I feal the same way, So Does a Friend of mine, and I like you would pay 30 mabe 40 US dollars if they just needed some help getting back on there feet ...But I will not spend another 120.00$ just to be givin the shaft yet again....No I will use what I have as long as its of use but they will get no more busness from me or my friend.....and I expect millions of others ....

 

google mail never forgets

 

I've read the story and I'm pulling for Bettini, but what does that have to do with those of who supported AnyDVD in the past? I get the need for revenue flow, and so does every one else who's purchased a license. But the fact is that AnyDVD is under the control of the same developers, and once again offering....choke..sputter..cough..clears throat, LOL lifetime licenses. I for one am not going to drop another large payment on a lifetime license that could be useless in a matter of months.

 

Thanks ddp, I figure if AnyDVD wants to advertise on AD, then they can also go through the proper channels.

 

It’s still illegal to rip DVD and Blu-ray discs for personal use…. Even if you use software from a place that it’s not illegal!

My wife cheated on me so I ordered a gun from a country where it’s not illegal to shoot your cheating wife.. I told them that at the trial…..

 

From my experience, why bother buying the Fox's software at all? You cannot buy a real/legal copy of ANY current DVD off of eBay any more anyhow. The last 10 (yes, ten!) DVD titles I bought from 10 different sellers on eBay were Chinese knockoffs, so just wait until China buys their license for ripping them , then buy eBay's cheap copies and copy them with just a file copier! You'd have to buy one copy to copy with ANYDVD and CLONEDVD anyhow, so why bother ripping it yourself? I do not know if all the BluRay's are knockoffs, but I am certain that all the regular DVD's are! No one cares either... I have complained to eBay, and they refunded most of my money, but quickly suspended MY account for having too many refunds. The knockoffs are perfect! They shrink wrap them, copy the artwork on the box, silkscreen the actual DVD's and the pamphlets inside are also copied and printed, and even the stickers on the outside of the cellophane are duplicated! The ONLY way of telling that they are fakes is by putting them into a computer DVD drive and do a directory! They compress the data to fit onto a single layered DVD blank! All original LEGAL DVD's are double sided, (it says so right on the back of every box in tiny print) but the the copies have less than 4.5 G on them, whereas the REAL ones have up to 9 G, depending on the length of the movie. So, problem solved, right??? And they use professional equipment,because they use "silver DVD's, which no home computer can write to. The sellers simply don't care that they're selling knockoffs,and eBay doesn't care that you cannot buy a single LEGAL DVD from them, and the distributors don't care, because they're making money and getting away with it!

 

I just wait until a movie goes on sale because most movies go down in price frighteningly fast these days, or I pick up a mint used copy. I generally pay less than $10 for a BD movie that I want and less still for those I marginally want. There has always been at least three schools of movie rippers: 1. those who want to protect their investment 2. those who want an accessible drive of compressed movies 3. those who are outright pirates. The first group tends to buy BD movies that also includes a DVD copy, the second group will still compress or get a free compressed copy with their purchase, and the third now thanks to fast internet service providers will download high quality copies online. Think about it, even on a fast machine it takes far more time to rip and compress a BD movie than it does to download it. This one of the reasons why SlySoft was having difficulty selling AnyDVD, and as a consequence they've already saturated the existing market. So now the choice is to pack in or find a way to tap into an existing clientele base. I get that they need money and I would've been one of those who would've gladly pitched in to help out. The problem is that I don't like being lied to and I dislike attempts at manipulating me even more.

What SlySoft should've done is laid out all their cards on the table. Then they should've appealed to their clientele base by asking them if it matters if they survive. I think this would've rallied even those who're now turning their backs on the SlyRedFox. Then they could've asked those of us with lifetime licenses to contribute a $30 restart fee so that they can pay the bills. What they did instead was try to convince us that they're really not SlyFox, and as a result they don't have to honor previous licenses. To back their tale they parade the misfortunes of Giancarla Bettini, as though he was the sole owner of SlyFox. He might've been the head, but make no mistake, SlyFox was jointly owned by all the developers. Giancarla Bettini might be the headlined sacrificial lamb, but that's all he is If not, then the current SlyRedFox group is pirating his software, and since it's not there's, the open source community or other developers should be free to take over. SlyFox, SlyRedFox, are the same animal but with different names.

 

Actually, it's the third type you mention that I was referring to. Big money in China has paid a big amount for copies/site licenses for any DVD and Clone DVD, and they are exporting ship containers full of these knockoffs all over the world and selling them through sellers on eBay and other places. I have received one knockoff from Amazon too. It's one thing to pirate a copy for yourself or even a few friends, but these companies hold the fate of Hollywood in their hands! How long will Hollywood continue to spend Millions and Billions of dollars making films when China just knocks them off and severely undercuts their profits? I realize that there might be no honor among thieves, but if nothing else, SlySoft etal should not even sell site licenses... a moral issue if nothing else. I don't care if their story about regrouping is/was a sham. I suppose they thought that this was the least of several issues. Sure a lot of lifetime subscribers were actually screwed (myself included), but without SlySoft there would be no way of pirating these movies, no matter what the underlying reason for the pirating was. I can honestly say that I have NEVER sold even one copy of any movie to anyone, and I still have both the originals AND the copies. So, while I might be guilty by law of piracy, at least I'm not making millions of dollars by copying them and selling them on eBay! Besides, the copies I make are on the dye sublimation disks and cannot be passed off as originals. I also realize that a sale is a sale, and SlySoft (nor eBay) probably don't care WHO they sell their product to, but I would be much more of a supporter if they would at least watch who they're selling this technology to. For that reason alone I don't plan to buy another license. Hollywood will never be compromised if people that make just a few copies (for whatever reason) are the only ones using this technology. They can lie about everything and I just don't care. It's their inability or uncaring to address the problem that sticks in my craw! Why couldn't code be added that would limit the number of copies you could burn? No one would ever need to make more than, say 10 copies of any DVD, or just eliminate the possibility of saving the ripped copy data on any device other than a DVD. Whatever. I do also realize that our two reasons for coming down on SlySoft are entirely different, however, the morality issues are exactly the same! I'll agree with you that their story is fake, but my issue is with those making thousand and thousands of copies potentially bankrupting Hollywood and the whole movie making industry. But I'm on my soapbox now, and right is still right in my book, and this wholesale copying has to stop before there are no more movies to steal, copy, pirate or even just watch!

 

" I do also realize that our two reasons for coming down on SlySoft are entirely different, however, the morality issues are exactly the same!"

Actually our reasons aren't that far apart. I don't care for pirating and never really have but I do like to compress movies to a hard drive for selective HTPC playback. The other reason I purchased it was eliminate the need for HDCP compliant hardware which was a hassle a few years back, but now is a non issue. I'm not even certain that the Chinese need or use AnyDVD to make their copies. They're quite capable of cracking code on their own. I no longer use AnyDVD for much of anything, but I felt that they shouldn't be able to scam honest users and have the pay a second time. The fact is that pirating y users is fading and has been for the last 7 or 8 years. Look at some of the old video thread here, on Doom9, and CD Freaks, and you will see that posting has all but stopped. The real problem today is torrent downloading because an HD movie can be easily compressed to around 4 GB, and it's nothing to download 4Gb at today's internet speeds. My preference is to wait until a movie I want is no longer on the hot sellers list, and then keep an eye out for sales or used discs.

 

I suppose I could be wrong about it being the Chinese and their ability to break the encryption on their own, but when I put in a brand new copy of a DVD and it is scanned by ANYDVD, it shows up being region free, not css protected, is a single layered DVD and has less than 4.5 Gb of data. The artwork is flawless, and the disk artwork is also flawless, so someone with very deep pockets has gone to a lot of trouble AND expense to make these impeccable knockoffs. Just the equipment to make the silver DVD's alone is out of the average person's price range! The simple fact that it has been compressed to fit onto a single layered DVD is their downfall. Has anyone ever put any of their new DVD's into a computer and read the results? I kinda doubt it! Unless they were trying to pirate that disk, they probably never would have known, The electronica today in our homes upgrades the signal it receives to 1080p, so we'd never see any difference on the screen. But the ones that are doing the piracy are saving a lot of money by compressing the data and putting it onto a single sided DVD. You wouldn't see a bit of difference except by seeing that the directory has less than 5 rather than the 9 Gb it is supposed to have on it! Somewhere in the copy on the back of the DVD box it ALWAYS says "Dual-Layer format", but they're not! Granted, I have just assumed that it was the Chinese and SlySoft together doing this. So maybe my accusations are unfounded, but with the proliferation of the compressed DVD's with no CSS protection, there is actually no need for SlySoft anyhow. Pretty soon every DVD you buy anywhere will be a knockoff from wherever, and then it'll only take time for the whole scene to crash.

Streaming has severely cramped the DVD industry also though, and it will only take time for someone to circumvent the protection there too. As far as I know, there isn't any way to capture and record and burn DVD's from the over the air and Internet streaming... YET! But I'm SURE it will come, if, in fact, it hasn't already without me knowing about it! I hate piracy too, but I must be classed with them because I do copy protected DVD's, but again, what really hurts is NOT the little guys, but the mass copiers that sell thousands or even millions of stolen copies!

I am so glad that I finally have found somewhere to vent about this subject, and to let everyone know how easy it is to spot these fakes, and if more people would return these knockoffs to the places they bought them from perhaps the piracy would slow a little or maybe even stop completely. Streaming will eventually drive the DVD's out anyhow though, so does anyone but me care???? Probably not!!

I am finished with my tirade, and I'm grateful that the moderator hasn't deleted either of our ramblings...yet, anyhow! But in spite of either of us the wholesale piracy AND the liars and thieves will go on. Just buy from eBay and you can file copy the compressed movies to your hard drive... 12 of the last 12 TV series sets I have bought ware ALL knockoffs... no CSS protection and less than 4.5G right out of the shrink wrapped box!

 

AnyDVD is my favorite application to use on discs.

 

"Has anyone ever put any of their new DVD's into a computer and read the results?"

I do it all the time, and are you discussing DVD's or BD's. I can usually tell if a disc is fake often by looking at it, and since I rarely purchase online I'm absolutely certain that I have no fakes. DVD's of the same movie can be both single and dual layer depending on how many extra are included. As for upconversion, that's not an issue when your main player is a home built HTPC. Most commercial playback software allows you to check actual resolution and playback bitrate. aIf you want to be sure to get a clean copy then you do have to check your Ebay reseller. Ebay generally provides seller locations so it's always a good idea to purchase from a U.S reseller, and check their feedback rating, because I doubt that a U.S pirate will get away with selling thousands of fakes. That being said the Chinese also pirate Martin Guitars, and that alone prevents me from even considering purchasing a recent make Martin on Ebay, but I will look at older classic models.

"Streaming has severely cramped the DVD industry also though, and it will only take time for someone to circumvent the protection there too."

Streaming is often the source of fake DVDs and Blu-Rays, because it's easier than acquiring a disc and then copying and reencoding it. Streams are rather easy to copy, they're of high quality, already compressed, don't need decrypting, but that's an issue for the streaming services and movie companies to work out. Unfortunately these are often the source of online pirates. They will often be labeled WEB-DL on pirate sites where people jump at them because they're of good quality.

You needn't worry about the moderators deleting our posts, we've broken no rules beyond getting a little off topic, but I know as a fact that many moderators do it too. Right ddp?

 

I have only been talking/typing about regular DVD's. I'm old, my hearing is bad, and my eyesight too, so I could never be a videophile or an audiophile anyhow, so I've stayed away from BluRay because of the added expense of all the things needed to copy one! I do own a very few though... my favorite being "Top Gun". I must've watched that one 20 times! It makes the hair on my arms and neck stand up!! Probably because I worked on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier when I was in the Navy a hundred years ago! It brings up good memories of the VietNam war!

And, of course the number of extras etc determine the use of a single layer DVD, but most of my DVD's are the TV series, and they ALL are double layer. It states so right on the box in the insanely fine print! I found out how to spot the fakes by accident sometime back. I kept getting bad disks from one particular seller on eBay... one in particular had the exact same error at the same point on each copy, and I even had him buy a copy from someone else to send me after he ran out and that was bad also. So I went to the local WalMart and bought still another copy. This copy was good all the way through, so I compared the two directories and that was when I noticed that there was no CSS protection and the total data was less that 5GB whereas the copy from WalMart had the protection and was nearly 9GB. No one has to hit me in the head twice with a hammer to get the point!! So, since then I have checked every single DVD that comes into the house! I even got one from Amazon, but only one! I have given up trying to help stop this wholesale piracy because no one really cares. It reminds me of the prostitution laws... it is argued, by some, that it is a victimless crime! I won't start that tirade, mainly because this is surely not the place for it!!

I'm just glad to be able to get the simple way of spotting these fakes out there for some people to see. Physically (visually), I don't believe that there is ANY way to spot them. They look and feel even better that the originals. A lot of BIG bucks has gone into this business just for equipment alone...and it's all professional, expensive equipment. And most of the time, the sellers either don't know they're selling knockoffs, or they simply don't care. eBay certainly doesn't care either... they make their profit from the sellers, not the buyers. Whatever.... I still write the seller and tell them that they are selling knockoffs, but that's it. It's illegal to even have them in your possession. I also refused to return them to the seller because they will just sell them again to another unsuspecting buyer, and technically I suppose I could be implicated in the sale by receiving stolen property. They must either be destroyed or sent to the MPAA. I just hope that enough people read these posts and do something about it! But like most everything else, it'll never happen! But, hey, I tried to help! But just not enough people care. It's like beating the proverbial "dead horse"!!

I live in a rural area, so everything I get to watch has to go through my satellite receiver, including my Internet through it's own antenna, and their encryption hasn't been compromised, as far as *I* know. Back years ago, with the old VideocypherII decoding chips, it COULD be done, but it involved grinding a big IC off a board inside that part of the receiver and installing a different one that bypassed the encryption. Same thing with local cable boxes too. It's just a game of "Locks and keys"... one side comes out with a new lock, then the opposition comes out with another key! Not unlike the encryption on the latest BluRay DVD's. That's why the need for the likes of Slysoft/Red Fox (or whatever their name is now!

Anyhow, it's been nice going back and forth with you, and from the size of our posts, we neither must have a whole lot to do!!<GG> And, it's pleasant to be conversing with someone without all caps and blatant sarcasm too!!