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DVD Decrypter - Gone, Forever!
Posted on 06/06/05 08:41 by Herbert
This isn't a good start into this new week,LIGHTNING UK! used our news submit to let us know the following really bad news..
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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 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! |
Well, LIGHTNING UK! too bad that you are forced to stop your work on this great software. We all out here thank you and wish you all the best in the future. More information on copyrights in Europe can be found on Euro-Copyrights.org. Discuss this in our Copy DVD Movie Forum .
Need other software to remove copy protections? Then try AnyDVD, software that is able to bypass copy protections, region code protection and much more. Faster as it can rip 'on the fly'.
Source: CDFreaks.com
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this is a grave day indeed.
I'd like to thank Lightning UK for their development of DVDDecrypter- I've used it since the early days and it's been invaluable.
now- what other programs can we use?
[edited by divadiow on 06.06.2005 08:49]
[edited by divadiow on 06.06.2005 08:49]
A sad day for everyone. 
He should have leaked the sourcecode. Once unleashed, development probably could not have been stopped. 
Let's soon check who this company was. Time for a further boycott I think!
this is a great program and i wish to thank the author for the yearsi have had it i hope someone can continue with something similar
Wow, I did not see this coming, a very sad day indeed. DVD Decrypter was the best and easiest DVD ripper ever. I wish you all the best LIGHTNING UK!
Ps. moving the software to the beautiful island of Antigua (
) wasn't an option?
Hey I think we (users) should be the ones helping LIGHTNING restarting this story somewhere else!!!
I don't see my computer without dvd decrypter!!!PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE !!!!
Release the full sources, I know it's not the thing you had in mind but at least it will allow others in countries with different lows pick up where you left ...
PLEASE ...
That's a really bad start of a day...
DVDDecrypter was one of the best things I put on my computer...
Sorry to hear about that, but I understand you, LIGHTNING UK...
Hope, the community finds a solution for this...
Thanks again for your patience, time and knowledge!very sad news... guess that behind the decision there is Sony with their Arccos scheme. Now there is only Anydvd that is good enough...
This is very, very sad! This scenario just shows how big companies can destroy the human creativity and cooperativism. I, sincerily wish all sort of good things to you, LIGHTNING UK.Thanks for your amazing soft and for shared your work with us.
I sent that guy money, super program - I've used it 700 plus times to test my DVD drive and it worked well.
I hope the next guy who makes a program like this does not feel the need to have a home base webpage where he can be found and killed.
Without programs like this we are all stuck in the real DRM enabled world.How about releasing a "ripperless" version?
If you let the GUI interact with a command prompt version of DeCSS (or similar), it's down to the individual whether thay want to use it or not...
How about letting the source code out or passing it on to another developer, it seems a shame to let a great project and community dieGulp, am I allowed to swear big time?
Such a shame, freedom is only allowed to those with the money to afford it.
Wish there was something we all could do.
Many Many thanks Lightning UK.
Hehehe! Will be funny, katastrofe, but i think more effective if the source code goes spread to the community... We'll got lots of variations of the program. That will be a REAL "sharks" nightmare!
He probably knows that this could get him into trouble, he would have had to anticipate the receipt of that letter and would have had to leak the source code just 10 minutes before.
However, we know now that anyone who wants to restart from scratch must not offer support, and especially not a website. The way to distribute it must be made difficult to identify individuals
That really blows!!!!! As far as what other tools, has anybody keep up with smart ripper? It used to be good a while back?
make it opensource thats the only way 
dvddecrypter is the best !!
i wish u the best Lightning UK
dvddecrypter is the best !!
i wish u the best Lightning UK
I can see the faces of SLYSOFT smiling....
Hopefully the code could be passed on to someone for further development. A sad day
indeed.yeah release the source code, then someone else can carry on its development in a country that has no copyright laws.
this would also be good for us due to olli from slysoft could gain ideas and improve clonedvd and anydvd.
open source is amazing, just look at firefox 1.0.4
a great product with great usability thanks to intelligence in the GUI's design. Obviously crafted by someone who knows about usability, & unlike many other free products, this one was (is) the best.
Looks like www.slysoft.com and www.dvdidle.com are 2 remaining options for those who want to back up their copy-protected tosh.
Well, we do still have AnyDVD but what is prevent the same organization from halting the development of that software...
R.I.P. This is a sad, sad, sad day.......but like the internet world it will raise again.......I love you DVD Decrypter
"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)... 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."
Guys, take this serious! Disable the Autoupdate function NOW if you don't want to appear on their IP's list after the domain was transferred. Block the application with your firewall to prevent further "accidental" access to the net.
I hope L_UK! doesn't have to face any further trouble. He should not release the source code to avoid more legal threats from Sony (?!). But who am I to give legal suggestions?
Thumbs up for Lightning_UK!! You did a great job! Thanks for all you have done![edited by a²° on 06.06.2005 14:52]
Well, maybe he shared the sourcecode with someone else before already and he's unable to stop this person from spreading the code now. Pity..
I've unpacked the executable and figured it wouldnt be overly hard to modify the existing internal version and the 3 web sites that the application uses to retrieve the _version.txt file (those of you with a hex editor jump to 0x2330b0) and there it is - not sure what url you'd want to change it to however seeing without the source you can't release an updated version anyhows.
Unless of course the source code was to say magically appear (lightings' pc might have had some trojan he caught from a website that finds source code and posts it to newsgroups).
Seems to clear to me any software designed to backup your home wedding dvd's would need to be a 'low key' event to minimise 'attention'.
Yeah, you are right, but if this had happen it would have been known already. If the source appears in some p2p these days, it would smell too fishy, don't you think?
But you never know... www.doom9.net still has what your looking for if you dont have a copy!
Again welcome to the new world order where their agenda is ultimately to strip all rights from the individual except the super rich! Time to fight back I say. Find out who the mystery company is. Pray that this project can be transferred to slysoft before the one world government and microchipped population. This action is just the beginning in this war. Remember when elby stuff was shut down? It is only a matter of time until a "net solution" presents itself so don't despair. I heard that intel is putting drm into their new dual core chips for blu ray and hd-dvd I imagine. Since they are not telling us what it is for. I suggest AMD dual core 64 bit chips if they aren't DRM'ed too.... As long we are free of that bull we will still have room to move i spite of any illuminati puppets most people call politicians. Time for the people to revolt tax wise since the govenments of the world commit treason every day against its people (in the name of corporate welfare and bribes) and cd freaks is a good non marketing site that exposes all this. The fact is only a critical mass of woken up people can stop this not just the few as lightning uk pointed out..... So spread trhe word and know what secret societies and skullduggery is going on that the news media aren't telling you. After all FTA TV and cable are just a brainwash device for advertisers who wish to bend us to their will.....
Everyone talking about other options to get this software back online, please realise that this has been the life work of Lightning as he writes, also think of the consequences for him if he doesn't comply to the law. The possibility that he will be held responsible for damages is considerable and could totally destroy his life. Even if he would leak the source code now it would be obvious to any judge that he was not really trying to stop the distribution of his software.
There is not much left other than thanking him for his efforts and wishing him the best of luck with evertything he is going to do in his life. Wasting his life for a piece of software is simply not worth it.DVD Decryptor is something other companies wish they could have invented. So many features, easy to learn, and strong as oak when it came down to being stable. I MAYBE had 1 crash in the last 3 years. So sad to see development stop on this wonderful proggie. Hopefully, Arcos was the last futile attempt at controlling product useability for the regular DVD. We have yet to fight the Blu Ray and HD-DVD.
That's pretty shitty. Especially as we have been using DVD Decrypter as a tool in a legit film industry environment - to make a DivX with AUtoGK for subtitlers to work on films. Not sure what the industry will offer us now to ensure we can continue with such use?
i daresay LUK has thought of all options, and if he could do anything realistically with it, he would have done .
i think we all ought to say to him "Well Done" with what he achieved, and Thank you , and wish him all the best .
this is a sad loss to us all.
Sorry to hear the news. This is just to say a big thankyou for the effort you have put in ....
LIGHTING UK! AND OTHERS WHO HELPED TO MAKE DVD DECRYPTER, THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT SOFTWARE AND FAREWELL.
YEAH, AMERICA!! FOR COMING UP FOR SUCH A GREAT LAW!!
If the source code was on a cd, and somebody in a public place like a university or library "walked off" with it, that would not be the authors fault. And if the source code had and "old" pre-law-letter date, well, gee there would be no way to tell when this thieft took place.
Thank you for giving us the best DVD copy program ever. I understand your decision and I wish you the best.I hate to say it guys, but it looks like the movie and music associations are starting to get the upper hand and are only picking up speed knowing that it's working. There's not a day that goes by that you don't hear of a bust. I think the days of backing up your movies and CD's maybe coming to an end.
"I think the days of backing up your movies and CD's maybe coming to an end. "
For every single user they prosecute, there are tens of thousands more that they can't touch and don't have the resources to.
This isn't a battle they can win - all users have to do is wait them out.
Remember, the Internet is made up of several million users.
The entertainment companies have to answer to shareholders and their coffers hold only so much money.
Copy protection efforts and lawsuits will eventually take their monetary toll. The companies are hoping that users will be scared into letting them win before they start to seriously hurt.
Not only the US has these laws, also the countries in the European Union have much stricter copyrights laws than before. More information on the European Copyright Directive can be found here:
http://www.euro-copyrights.orgBEST PROGRAM EVER - BASTARDS YOU KILLED DVD Decrypter. I have used this program for years since it started. I say give all the rights and source code to Slysoft and let them keep updating the program even though you only took donations for the program. Like you said you have to cease any further operations to do with DVD Decypter so let Slysoft continue it or some other country that has no copyright laws (Kuwait).
later
pete
Good luck in the future mate, and all of you from the forum ;-(,
I would also like to thank LIGHTENING UK! for all his hard work.
I would not pester him to release anything more (ie source code), or do anything more, this will only land him in trouble.
Allthough it would be nice to fight it, I would have done the same if i where him.
Thanks again,
Ben 
Thanks for your HUGE contribution to the DVD backup world, and for your dedication in fixing every little bug that was discovered, for all the updates in response to people's ripping problems, for making the software the best you could make it, and for your excellent support forum.
And all of this was free!!!
Good luck for the future. If there's any justice, Nero will offer you a job with a huge salary...
VERY smart and wise advice. I just added it to my blocker, something I thought I'd never have to do. It truly is a sad day for the comman man's rights.
Very sad day!
Thax LIGHTNING UK! for all the work you have done and wish all the best for the future! A very very good free program taken down by a company that could easily ignore it. R.I.P DVD Decrypter!
\\VH////
This tragic event should serve as a HUGE red flag to all software programmers who write similar software-to make immediate preparations to already have your source code stashed away safely, ready to be immediately be distributed to the whole world should such oppression befall the next software maker that fosters digital Fair Use rights, that way, these greed driven fascists will be completely screwed forever.
Seeing this kind of egregious crap makes me sick. The fact that governments have been relentlessly bombarded with the so called "need for stonger copyright protections" has already gone far enough, but threatening the maker of this great software is just unbelieveable. Other companies will likely follow, until there will be NO readily available software tools for anyone, except for the experts who make copies and sell them for money illegaly, again screwing the home user.
This gestapo is trying to make Jack Valenti's viewpoint a reality "When you buy a DVD, you are buying a copy, if that gets damaged, you go buy another copy". I trust there is a special place in hell reserved for those that perpetrated this injustice. The "law" that made possible for this to happen deserves NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT, and the "LAW" CAN GO TO HELL, just like it did with alcohol prohibition, SCREW YOU MPAA, SONY, Macrovision, et.al.
Thanks for all your hard work, you app was one of my favorites...
How about a newsgroup dedicated to it?
If someone just happens to get a hold of the source it could be updated there... no web servers, no control, no way to take it out
LIGHTNING_UK!,
This is a truly sad day indeed.
My deepest appreciation and thanks goes out to you for all of your hardwork and community support over the years.
You will be sorely missed.
Wesociety
Thanks for the wonderful software you cooked up LIGHTNING UK! 
Your hardwork will always have a place on my hard drive! 
Let me add my best wishes and regards for your future and that you will be left alone now.
Well, the movie studio storm troopers continue to march. Will this cause sales of dvd's to increase worldwide? Of course not.
One of the greatest programs ever by the responce here and on other news sitesforums shows how popular dvd decryptor is...
thanks LIGHTNING UK"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)"
I think the domain is yours, you just have to drop/abandon it and stop developing/supporting the program. Why are you obliged to give it to them?
"Of course what I really mean is that you should all stop using the program out of respect for the company's rights."
What do you mean? Am I obliged to stop using the program? No, I won't! And I don't give a single f*ck for all this DRM-crap-hysteria!
Well, sorry guyz, but this story leaves several questionable facts...
Can someone explain to me why Slysoft/dvdidle or any other company is entitled to release such a software and not Lightning UK or someone else for free? I just don't get it!
Well, sorry guyz, but this story leaves several questionable facts...
Can someone explain to me why Slysoft/dvdidle or any other company is entitled to release such a software and not Lightning UK or someone else for free? I just don't get it!
LUK Thanks for all your amazing efforts. Please enjoy the rest of your life in peace.OK, Slysoft is located in Antigua, but not the other companies! :P
The issue is that Lightening UK is in the UK which is covered by laws that make it possible for him to be prosecuted if he doesn't stop the development and behave nicely by encouraging us to stop using his software. Frankly I'm amazed, and pleased, that he got away with it for so long.
Slysoft is in Antigua which is clearly more liberal
OK :
- Plextor : blacklisted
- Sony : blacklisted
Who else ?
this could easily be used like ICOPYDVDs2, (which spawned from 321 studios DVD X Copy), They just didn't install a DeCSS in the ripper, so it wouldn't rip a DVD alone, you needed to install "DVD43FREE" a free utility that allows any ripper to see the disc as not CSS encrypted.
This little act allowed people all around the world with different laws to install DVD43FREE and use ICOPYDVDs2 with all their DVD's for backup.
This could be a simple release one evening in a drunken stuper.this could easily be used like ICOPYDVDs2, (which spawned from 321 studios DVD X Copy), They just didn't install a DeCSS in the ripper, so it wouldn't rip a DVD alone, you needed to install "DVD43FREE" a free utility that allows any ripper to see the disc as not CSS encrypted.
This little act allowed people all around the world with different laws to install DVD43FREE and use ICOPYDVDs2 with all their DVD's for backup.
This could be a simple release one evening in a drunken stuper.this could easily be used like ICOPYDVDs2, (which spawned from 321 studios DVD X Copy), They just didn't install a DeCSS in the ripper, so it wouldn't rip a DVD alone, you needed to install "DVD43FREE" a free utility that allows any ripper to see the disc as not CSS encrypted.
This little act allowed people all around the world with different laws to install DVD43FREE and use ICOPYDVDs2 with all their DVD's for backup.
This could be a simple release one evening in a drunken stuper.@italianjob, why is plextor blacklisted on your list???
Anyway, banding a DVDripper, because it can circonvent a copy protection is LAME!
if you can "break" a copyprotection easaly,
it isn't a copy protection anymore. and should not been labeled as a copy protection.
the first copy protection was using 80 min disk instead of the 73 min onces. you couldn't make a backup because these 80 min disks were not for sale or were too expensive.
what if i burn a "one-of-those-copyprotected -80-min-cd's" with nero, or Easy cd creator..etc on a blankc 80 min cd?
i would circonvent the copy protection..Right?
soo, all software that can do this must be banned!!!
wich will never happen ofcours
my point is= DVDdecryptor must be here to stay! And it will always be in my memory!
thanks to the creator and everybody who helped out witnthis wonderfull program!
my point is= DVDdecryptor must be here to stay! And it will always be in my memory!
thanks to the creator and everybody who helped out witnthis wonderfull program!Can't blame Plextor on that one! Reverse engineering and bragging about it!! Go PLextor!
It doesn't look like very many people used DVD Decryptor. Lightning man, we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. This was one of the best freeware apps ever written. It has SO many useful features beyond the obvious. They may be able to prevent future development, but, somehow, given the 70 responses so far, I'm guessing the software's not going to disappear any time soon. Thanks for all your hard work!