SlySoft releases AnyDVD HD beta
By Donald Melanson 
posted Feb 14th 2007 6:44PM
posted Feb 14th 2007 6:44PM
It seems that DRM just can't catch a break these days. First the all-important processing key required to unlock and decrypt HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs was discovered, now just days later comes news that the folks at SlySoft have updated their AnyDVD "backup" software utility to allow for "on the fly remastering" of HD DVD discs, although not Blu-ray discs. As you might expect, they aren't exactly spilling the details on exactly how they achieved this considerable feat, although those that have tried out the beta software are reporting that it works as advertised, with copying HD DVDs a matter of a simple drag and drop. While the software is available as a free beta download for now, SlySoft's existing AnyDVD software is far from free, meaning you'll likely have to fork over the same fifty bucks (or $100 for SlySoft's complete bundle of apps) for the new HD-ready version once they've gotten all the kinks worked out.[Thanks, Oliver]
I love how a company wants you to pay for their intellectual property that assists users in freely trading other companies' intellectual property. How happy would they be if I sold software for half the price that allowed users to get around paying for their software? If you're gonna do stuff like this, you shouldn't be making money off it.
Blah, blah, blah! DRM SUCKS!!! I don't pay for DRM, I pay for the music and the movies and I'm TIRED of efforts to keep me from being able to back-up my own collection. I have a TV and a computer and a receiver that all use either component video or DVI connection, but NO, now we have HDMI. And WHY? All because they want to close the so-called "analog gap". HDMI isn't any better than component for video and coax for audio, but it allows them to address DRM keys and control content. So, I've got to upgrade my TV, my receiver and my computer to us HDMI if I wanna do Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. It sucks and all for what? The MICRO amount that is traded online. They alienate SO MANY users, legitimate users so they can shut down the TINY amount that trade in illegal stuff. If you compare the amount of DVDs sold versus the amount of movies traded illegally it is a drop in the bucket! They are SO greedy! They sell DVDs for $20 and $30, yet it only cost about $1 for the entire DVD, that includes the disk, the box and any other packaging. So they are making millions, BILLIONS of dollars and yet, that isn't enough, no... they will spend millions of dollars that come from legitimate sales (read: profits from US) to include this DRM crap that keeps out so many users, Macintosh users, Linux users, and anyone not using the latest version of Windows. They are greedy and deserve for someone to hack their DRM and allow *someone* to enjoy the product without their crappy DRM.
SlySoft has been around for years providing a an easy way to get past a lot of the display restrictions and a very nice and elegant way to bypass all the nags and ads they stick at the beginning of DVDs. AnyDVD is also one of the only apps I know of that will let you watch a DVD on Windows XP on a non-VGA output... very useful for us running HTPC's.
I personally don't see anything wrong with profiting off of this if you have the means to do so.
While I'm a fan of SlySofts AnyDVD, and will upgrade to a HD version whenever I decide it's safe to choose a format... I couldn't just let your HTPC comment slide.
I've only been using AnyDVD for about 6 months, but have had my HTPC running on a DVI-HDMI cable for almost 2 years, and watched movies on my old analog TV via S-Video before that, all on XP... I don't know where your specific hiccup originated, but it wasn't XP.
Anyway, this is great news, hopefully a BD version isn't too far behind.
Just so we're clear -- those movies you watch are made by companies that employ people. They cost a lot of money to make (not just a dollar for the DVD processing). They cost nearly as much money to market. Just like it cost money for SlySoft to produce their product. The point that Mike and I are making is that SlySoft should be OK with people not paying for their product, right?
Think of it this way -- did you like The Insider or The Life Aquatic? What about The Prestige? The Village was a pretty great movie. I quite liked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 25th Hour is one of my favorites, as is The Royal Tenenbaums and High Fidelity. Disney is taking Touchstone Studios from ten or twelve movies a year to one or two, so those movies, all Touchstone productions, have a much slimmer chance of getting made now. Slackening DVD sales have a lot to do with that decision, according to Bob Iger. Does any of that have to do with trading movies over the internet? I think it does.
Don't feel sorry for the studios, but don't think that your actions don't have an affect on the movies you love to watch. Pay for the things you like, and they'll make more of them. Don't pay for those things? They won't make them any more. Simple as that.
This adds to the value of HDDVD now. You can rip to your desktop or server, and then stream the MP4 to your media extender (buffalo or dlink or appletv or whatever). That's how I use DVD's now. This is also a protection measure that any HDDVD's you do buy will never be obsolete; you can always change the format to a brd with a burner.
If Hollywood would just get off their duffs and provide the backup feature they would have a way to counter people wanting to do this.
would a company that creates a product which allows me to steal and copy dvds be upset If I stole and copied their program? (cracked version)
I missed the part of the slysoft software that included a p2p network like napster.
It seems to me that this allows me to store content on my NAS and stream it to my HD TV on demand or down-rez it for my treo.
Are you saying that it won't let me store it on my NAS or that I can't down-rez, and that it only works with it's p2p client?
"...freely trading other companies' intellectual property"
AKA freely exercising your fair use rights.
Horseshit! What a CROCK! Bob Iger is a lying, greedy, scum! Do you know that theatrical releases were $9 billion dollars in 2006, DVD sales were 24 BILLION!!! So don't give me that "slackening DVD sales" CRAP! What the hell is "slackening DVD sales"? I'll tell you what, it is the very first year that DVD sales haven't grown *exponentially*. And why? Because it has finally been fully indoctrinated as a standard (over VCRs). That doesn't mean that "DVDs are slackening", it simply means that it is a MONSTER, a BEHEMOTH moneymaking machine and it is no longer "peaking". It has peaked, but it isn't "slackening", it simply isn't growing because it is FULLY SATURATED and pumping billions upon billions into the coffers of these moviemakers. Most of the time they make millions of profits on the theatrical release, then they make MORE on the DVD release! And how do they thank us? By cramming DRM down our throats and keeping Mac users like myself out of the loop.
All those movies you mentioned, I OWN on DVD. Every single one (except The Prestige which isn't out yet). I contributed to the 24 BILLION in DVD sales in 2006!
So don't give me the "slackening sales" garbage! You damn studio shill.
Slysoft is a tiny, tiny company. Their annual sales don’t equal the total sales of the WEAKEST DVD released last year! American Pie: The Naked Mile will do more sales than Slysoft will do a HUNDRED TIMES OVER.
The big movie studios are MONSTERS that squeeze every, single penny out of us. They release five and six of one DVD as collector's DVD just to bilk the public (Sin City ring any bells?) And then you guys come along and try to sling that *incredible garbage* about "slackening DVD sales"! What incredible lies! How you can even write that insipid crap without vomiting all over yourself, I have no idea. But listen to the words that are coming out of my keyboard, WE KNOW BETTER!
What we are asking for is the ability to BACK UP OUR DVDS!!! I have two elementary age children and they are hard on DVDs and I WILL NOT re-buy DVDs just because they get scratches on them. It is totally and completely unacceptable that I can't make a back-up. And what do I hear when I ask for that? What do I hear when I say that I do that anyway, despite the studios? I hear that I am a CRIMINAL! What low, immoral people spread lies and filth like that? My own children ask me if we are breaking the law? What do I say? I say, "Sometimes it is your duty to break the law, to civilly disobey the wrongful laws of tyrants". And that is what they are, they are tyrants sitting on piles and piles of money and using that money to buy others who lie the same lies and tell us "DVD sales are slackening".
Shame on you John! Shame on you for your lies. Please take your lies and GO AWAY, and tell your tyrants that are sitting on $24 billion that we will no longer allow them to dictate to us whether we can or cannot back-up our own DVDs - we will, and there is NOTHING you can do to stop us!
Thank you, someone needed to speak the truth!!
Come on, tell us how you really feel. You held back, I know it. :)
I was going to make a long comment on this, but superman pretty much hit the nail on the proverbial head. I own hundreds of DVD movies (last time I counted, it was well over 300 and I've bought many more since then). Some I love, some I just like, but I own them. Bought and paid for with my hard-earned money. I paid for AnyDVD and CloneDVD because they allow me to exercise my fair-use rights with my legally purchased media.
I refuse to allow some multi-billion dollar company to tell me what I can and can't do with my legally purchased media simply because they created the content. If they want to control it so bad, then they shouldn't even bother to release it. Just keep it for themselves and no let anyone else watch it. But they want to make money off it, and I have no problem with that. But once it's in my hands, it's mine to do with as I please.
Allow me to clarify. I don't condone piracy, though I can't honestly say I haven't downloaded anything either. But I can honestly say that if I liked what I saw, I bought it. First chance I got, I plunked down the money for it. And last time I counted it up - estimating about $10/DVD for the movies, plus what I spent on the TV shows on DVD - I had close to $5,000 wrapped up in my collection. And that was probably a low estimate, since a lot of those were more than $10. The Babylon 5 series was close to $100 per season.
With that much money wrapped up, do you honestly think I shouldn't have a way to backup my discs? Then there's all the money I've spent on my video games, but that's another story and a whole other can of worms.
Heh, I wasn't planning on writing a long diatribe, but I guess I had more to say than I realized. If you read this far, then I commend you. And whether you agree or not, those are my thoughts on the whole situation.