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SlySoft, the creator of the AnyDVD DVD/Blu-ray ripping software, has shut down following Hollywood pressure:
The Antigua-based software company SlySoft has shut down its website and ceased sales of the popular Blu-ray ripping software AnyDVD. The action comes several days after a group of Hollywood studios and technology partners asked the U.S. Government to intervene.
Earlier this month AACS LA, the decryption licensing outfit founded by a group of movie studios and technology partners including Warner Bros, Disney, Microsoft and Intel, reminded the U.S. Government about the unauthorized activities of SlySoft. SlySoft is known for selling various copyright protection circumvention tools including the popular AnyDVD software, of which it sold tens of thousands of copies over the years.
In 2014 AACS-LA won a court case against the software manufacturer in Antigua, where a local court found SlySoft owner Giancarla Bettini guilty of six charges under the 2003 Copyright Act and ordered him to pay a fine of $5,000 per offense. Failure to pay would result in six months in jail for each offense. However, despite the win for AACS not much changed. SlySoft's owner immediately filed an appeal which effectively put the convictions on hold. Meanwhile, AnyDVD remained widely available.
This changed yesterday when the site suddenly went blank as the domain's main nameservers were removed. Initially it was unclear what triggered the downtime, but a few hours ago SlySoft put up a brief statement confirming an early Myce report that legal problems are the cause.
From the above Wikipedia link:
AnyDVD is a device driver for Microsoft Windows which allows decryption of DVDs on the fly, as well as targeted removal of copy preventions and user operation prohibitions (UOPs). With an upgrade, it will also do the same for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The AnyDVD program runs in the background, making discs unrestricted and region-free. In addition to removing digital restrictions, AnyDVD will also defeat Macrovision analog copy prevention. Analog prevention distorts the video signal to prevent high quality copying from the output. AnyDVD is also able to remove copy-prevention from audio CDs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 26 2016, @09:30AM
A DVD ripper running on Windows? Are you insane? Windows ten will report you to the BSA and the MPAA and the RIAA and the MAFIIA faster than you can upgrade! Don't be a fool! Friends don't let friends run Windows Ten, even if that friend had Feet that are Hairy!! Seriously.