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DVD Decrypter -- gone forever

6 June 2005 1:04 by Petteri "dRD" Pyyny | 426 comments

Not really a good way to start a new week -- this just came in via our news submit (thanks Shoey):

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 bad: DVD 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 PMs, 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)

Quite shocking news in deed, but not exactly unexpected, as the UK implemented their version of EUCD legislation back in 2003 and it clearly states that distribution, etc of tools that allow circumventing copy protection mechanisms is illegal. Similar fate is very likely to happen to all other DVD rippers developed by European companies (the similar legislation has been in place in the U.S. for years now).

As Finland, where AfterDawn Ltd is located, hasn't implemented EUCD to its national legislation yet, we continue to host DVD Decrypter's last version, as well as several other DVD ripping tools on our site.

I'd wish to express my sympathy to the author of DVD Decrypter, situations like this can be quite devastating. All the best!

Here's the link to the latest/last version of DVD Decrypter which is still available here at AfterDawn.com:

DVD Decrypter v3.5.4.0

Source: CD Freaks

Permalink to this article

Defendants in Finnish CSS case seek their day in the Supreme Court (24 July 2008)

Lightning UK! updates ImgBurn to v1.1.0.0 (2 December 2005)

DVD Decrypter to be removed (24 November 2005)

Official MacTheRipper download site shut down (18 September 2005)

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Discuss this article!	There are more user comments available, read them here
Jon552 (Newbie) 22 April 2006 14:12
Yes, you make some good points. I suppose I shou;dn't have been quite so harsh and I apologize for that. While some of your points are pretty good, I still don't quite agree. Even if you don't have another lower priced option for say DVD's, well that's just the way things go. And studios have to make profits. I'll be honest, I'm more of a capitalist - surprise - how many filmmakers are capitalist? haha - and I don't subscribe to the notion that studios are such big bad companies. While I agree they definitely need to improve, for example lower theatrical prices, better movies: less crap, and less screwing over of people who actually buy movies and want to say have them on their laptop - point is they could be more leniant. Nonetheless when I watch movies, I go to my local video store and rent one. It costs a few bucks and I get it for a day or two. If I like it enough I watch it twice. If there is a movie I really like, like Lord of the Rings, then I will buy the DVD, like the Extended editition, and I continue that good value. Anyways, nuff said and thanks for the encouragement! You should definitely get into it too. Cheers [ + quote]
cygnus_09 (Newbie) 28 April 2006 7:31
Jon552- "While I agree they definitely need to improve,... people who actually buy movies and want to say have them on their laptop"... I think that is the main reason that people use programs like DVDD etc. Like you, I go to the local video store and rent the movie. If I like it enough, like you, I buy it. But that is where the difference begins(I think). I back my copy up. With kids around, the movie doesn't last too long. So I only keep the back-ups out in the livingroom. I refuse to buy the same movie over and over and over again. If I had to buy the same movies over and over, it would be wise of me to buy some stock in MGM, or whoever, 'cause I would be funding a small studio, with the amount of cash I would be shelling out to the movie companies. [ + quote]
shraven (Inactive) 28 April 2006 10:18
JaguarGod I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're young. When you grow up and gain a basic understanding of economics, please post again, because your post is 95% BS: myth and perverted facts. The gist of your argument seems to be that it's OK to steal from big studios because they have lots of money and waste lots of money. It doesn't matter. It's their content and you're stealing it. Period. Now, I pirate too. I feel that if I buy a piece of media I should be allowed to manipulate it in whatever way I want for my own person use. Fair use rulings have upheld this in the US. DRM intended to prevent casual theft (sharing of content) have evolved into prevention of legitimate use by paying consumers in order to generate more profit for the content companies. This was never the intent of copyright and as such I have no regard for it. But you do all of us a disservice and cause the loss of tools such as DVDDecrypter when you abuse our freedoms and preach open theft simply because you don't happen to like the way a product is produced/sold. You have the right not to buy it, but not the right to steal it. [ + quote]
batman100 (Newbie) 30 April 2006 22:49
Hey Jon, you are right to defend your work from theft. Everyone should be paid for their work.I think a lot of the controversy is about who is working and who is getting paid. I would like to see your work and also pay you a reasonable price for viewing it. I want to support the artists of our world so they will continue to create. What are we without art? You are also right in that we do need the big companys to get the art into circulation. Now here is where the problem begins. The world respects you for your creativity and hard work. We ALL want to reward YOU for your work. However, we do NOT respect the greedy corporations that profit on your work. The income and outflow is far out of proportion. The company gets 80% because they are your only outlet. We all view them as greedy and corupt. Therefore we have no respect for the SOURCE of the material. Unfortunately you are part of the source. This chain of events brings us to the good points Cygnus, Shraven and Jaguar have made. The real question is "what is theft". The law as it is now written states "ANY copying is illegal unless it is during the process of repair and then must be immediatly erased after repair is complete".I have several links on previous posts. If I'm wrong please point me to the most recent ruling. But laws are enforced by the interpretation of a judge. I think cygnus making backups is just plain smart. I have kids and I do the same thing. Is it legal? NO. But people only obey laws that make sense. Morality and the law are not the same. It may be illegal but I don't beleive it's Wrong. This is why people run stop signs. However, I do beleive it's wrong to distribute or receive copies. If you can make your film avalable online you may be able to start a path around the system. I'd like to see your work. Would you want me to make copies and give them to my friends? You would reach more people that way wouldn't you? [ + quote]
Lordsleg (Newbie) 1 June 2006 7:35
Well i have listen to what people are saying and i think we have lost the fact that if you buy a movie and want to make a back up of it you are then making an illegal copy. when i posted a while ago about go9ing up against hollywood it was for the fact that the dvd's have a problem where they stop for a second or two and then move on. that is a flaw in craftmenship and they knew about it. so i feel they owe us money back, because now they making another dvd called HD dvd or Blue ray technology where you have to buy another dvd player that cost $500-&1000 dollars and the dvd's are going to be some were around 39 to 50 dollars. this is a big stink to use technology as a loop hole to get out of trouble that they knew about the dvd flaw and instead of giving us an up grade they are going to charge us for it. VHS tapes nver stoped in the middle of a move inless the tape was broken. are you seeing were im going with this. this not about piracy by more about our rights as humanbeings and the big companies are walking all over them. I never maid this as a right to copy movies for piracy but more to back up what i have bought and paid for. We should always pay for a movie that some one has made for our entertainment. I just feel like our rights have gone out the door when they say you cant make back ups of your originals. So we should get a class action law suit against these tyrants ahd make them pay for selling us a product that has flaws in its craftmenship and not allow them to use new technology to move on pass this big mistake they made on purpose. Any one who doesnt agree with this is either part of the corpersation where against or a pirate that knows he or she is stealing, or some one who doesnt do much research about what they payfor. Well i see that most of the comments were on a piracy level or a want to be film maker in the indapendant feild which hollywood is now trying to dip into to mess over all those indapendant film makers over. so you see hollywood is a moster or big greedy beast that needs a spanking. I am working on a website for every one to go to and support us as americans and non americans in a venture to sue hollywood and sony over this flaw they have sold us all on before they sweep it un the matt with a new HDDVD class of software. let me know what your ideas are about what i have said on this thread. Fight for your wrights because no one will! [ + quote]
JaguarGod (Senior Member) 1 June 2006 15:11
Are you talking about the pause in the layer breaks?? Yeah, those are intentional, but they only affect older movies. Making a backup effectively eliminates this problem as long as you remove the layer break and change the the cell playback to seemless. HOwever, this does take away from the entertainment value of the movie, so there is a chance that you have something there. Another thing that making a backup fixes is badly pressed or scratched DVDs. A good PC drive can read through lots of read errors that DVD Players cannot. However, in terms of our rights when we buy movies, you are breaking the exact same law when you watch a movie with your children or siblings because it is illegal to watch a movie with more than one other person as this qualifies as public viewing. Also, it is illegal to watch a movie in an unauthorized player meaning that you are limited in how many players you can use. Blue Ray has some feature that prevents that. Also, if you buy something, why should someone care what you do with it. When I bu a baseball bat, am I violating laws by using it to tear down a wall or tenderize meat??? No, because I own it and can do what I want with it. Now, by putting these protections and laws to prevent backups takes away our ownership of the DVD/CD/VHS whatever the item may be. Maybe I would like to smash the DVD to bits with a sledge hammer, but since that is unauthorized use of the DVD, I could be hauled away to jail because of it... You never actually buy a DVD, you only buy the permission to be able to watch a movie. The disc, movie, case, everything associated with it, etc... belongs to the MPAA not you. You can probably go to jail for talking about a movie in public because you are giving a free public screening and are potentially costing $$$ to the companies that own the movie... Right now they do not have the power to enforce this law, but in the future who knows... [ + quote]
TheGarbo (Newbie) 25 June 2006 15:35
The reason I used DVDD was because of the stupid Region Codes. You only get a certain amount of changes befeore you have to pay to get your player reset. This is really a case of doubledipping by the recorder and player companies. [ + quote]
aabbccdd (Inactive) 28 June 2006 20:14
using AnyDVD makes all your dvds region free ,problem solved Lian-Li V1000 Full Tower/Antec-TruePower550-Watt/ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe MB Socket 939/ Seagate160GB Barracuda/ Westeren Digital Raptor 150 GB Sata/NVIDIA Geforce-7800 GTX KO ACS-3 Edition/ CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433(PC 3500)/AMD Opteron 175 Demark Dual Core/Zalman CNPS-9500 LED Cooler/2-Plextor PX-716A Drives/Lite-On SHW-160P6S/View Sonic-VP2030b 20.1"LCD 1600x1200 res.8ms Respone Time [ + quote]
wild77 (Inactive) 30 June 2006 12:04
Here is a great new tool that will keep DVD Decrypter alive, it's called Ripit4me. Check it out here http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=67918 Newbie Essentials!!! http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/180648 Do You need help? Read this first!!! http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/183136 [ + quote]
russki1 (Member) 8 July 2006 19:26
found a good link : http://www.mrbass.org/dvdrip/ [ + quote]
xhardc0re (Inactive) 17 September 2006 19:14
It has now been more than fourteen months since that certain company did this, yet consumers are demanding even more the ability to back up their rightfully purchased DVDs. I look forward to when Blu-ray is introduced and the mainstream audience yet again demands this ability. When ACS is also broken, and consumers have the ability to back up their legally purchased BLU-Rays, it will be proof. Proof that someone out there will stand against these Monoliths & look out for the right of the customer. Macro****** can rott in Hell! [ + quote]
Pop_Smith (Senior Member) 17 September 2006 19:32
Quote: I look forward to when Blu-ray is introduced and the mainstream audience yet again demands this ability. Blu-Ray, the Sony garbage (IMO, I strongly dislike Sony and am an HD-DVD fan) is already out. I am not sure on burnable media but I know the have PC burners and Top Box units out. Based on recent news events I am hoping HD-DVD will take off and win the war. http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/7922.cfm With a successful 3rd layer developed, and Blu-ray struggling to get even two layers functioning correctly, I believe it will only be a matter of time before HD-DVD overtakes Blu-ray with functioning fourth, fifth etc. layers. I believe the HD-DVD camp will get a successful HD-DVD that has as many working layers as Blu-ray is supposed to be able to handle (~25?). It will take time considering they just developed a third layer but I believe it will eventually come to light. :) Peace, Pop Smith [ + quote]
kaxmir (Junior Member) 3 October 2006 8:50
I NEED HELP BADLY!!! I lost my only download of DVD Decrypter after restoring my computer. i did find a version, however, it won't burn after I use dvd shrinker. HELP, what can i do, i have DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter, i have Nero (hate it!!!!!), and then one of the other DVD Decrypter replicas for freeware. Please help me, I want to copy my dvd movie for a friend and ship it off. [ + quote]
aabbccdd (Inactive) 3 October 2006 9:47
do you have your target set right in DVD Shrink to burn with DVD Decrypter? try this guide. http://bbmayo.home.comcast.net/ or maybe its a new movie that DVD Shrink can't handle so you might try CloneDVD 2 + AnyDVD ,theres a free 21 day trial . use the same guide [ + quote]
kaxmir (Junior Member) 3 October 2006 14:57
The movie is Wolf Creek I think 2005. Do you think this is why I can't decrypt and burn with DVD Decrypter? [ + quote]
kaxmir (Junior Member) 3 October 2006 14:59
Dear aabbccdd: WHICH lesson should I read? I am a REAL novice at this stuff. thanks, Kaxmir [ + quote]
Auslander (AfterDawn Addict) 3 October 2006 15:01
kaxmir: this thread is for comments relating to the end of DVD Decrypter. please head over to the proper forums to get help with your issues. [ + quote]
aabbccdd (Inactive) 3 October 2006 23:06
kaxmir , post here and we can help you out http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/390954 dvd shrink and or DVD Decrypter won't handle the newer movies without help [ + quote]
kaxmir (Junior Member) 4 October 2006 4:31
thank you aabbccdd: I joined your thread. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6 October 2006 13:13
Jda2k8 (Newbie) 21 August 2008 17:03
http://www.cdr-zone.com/software/dvd_too..._decrypter.html hey why is dvd decrypter still available to download off this site ???????? [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 21 August 2008 17:14
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 21 August 2008 18:24
Way to revive a two year old thread! Some sites continue to host it. Simple as. [ + quote]
binkie7 (Moderator) 21 August 2008 18:35
@Mik3h LOL @Jda2k8 Why worry about it - it was a great ripper in it's day and still handy to have around imho. [ + quote]
greensman (AfterDawn Addict) 22 August 2008 12:11
Yeh... It has it's uses. ;) Use what you like I say. :P ...gm [ + quote]
Tarangi (Newbie) 27 March 2009 19:35
you should not only host dvd decrypter in finland, but host Lightning UK.. you all should get him a place to live and a good job and a new Finnish passport.. My hopes is that someone can take over the projects further development in a NON-EU country.. if not only by proxy.. now if we can only convince those nutsos over in Iraq that their REAL enemy is some company in the UK trying to enslave the world as some sort of Satan (which they are shaping up to be), we could all get back to OUR OWN business.. i remember in the old days you just had to put a piece of tape over the "copy protection" holes in a cassette .. I wonder if they think I should be thrown in jail for that copying my own material is something i have the right to do, and anyone who says otherwise had better bring more than a piece f paper to my door.. something bigger than a panzer. until DVD's dont become scratched and unplayable after 3 days of use. if i can walk on my dvd all week long and still play it afterwards.. hey.. i wont bother copying anything. or do they think I should have to buy a DVD version of the movie AND pay for a download copy of the same move, AND pay for another downloadable version of that movie for use in each of my portable devices. i'll bet that sound a lot better than selling just one dvd to those retarded pencil-necks I'll buy a DVD and stop copying them when every DVD comes free with full quality version that can be transfered to my hard drive, and a version for every hand held device on the market, 3 versions of varying quality for every portable device on the market until then, i will continue to point radical muslims in the right direction until your entire country has been nuked and all of your citizens are dead.. maybe THEN lawmakers would listen to our voice instead of simply signing into law the terms of uber-greedy umber-selfish corporate pigs with no concern for the quality of life or the markets requirements or the state of technology but hey, I understand they have to make ends meet... they have to pay their bills and buy their new Ferrari's and Lamborghinis and beach front estates just like the rest of us... so I suppose i really shouldn't mind having my life and intelligence and rights stunted and thwarted and bashed about and trampled under their feet i am not a thief... but every day I hear this crap i become closer to becoming a murderer [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 27 March 2009 20:03
aktasweb (Newbie) 2 April 2009 19:56
I using AnyDVD makes all your dvds region free [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 3 April 2009 12:45
binkie7 (Moderator) 3 April 2009 12:45
@aktasweb No adverting your web site so let's remove them from you sig. Post edited to remove them from your post ^^ Forum Rules Do this before posting Do not click this link... [ + quote]