SlySoft Removes BD+ Protection With AnyDVD HD

[Ian]

So much for BD+....

AnyDVD HD now with BD+ support

Film studios that have switched to Blu-ray may have crowed a little
too early because the much-praised BD+ copy protection is an ad
absurdum affair now, too. With today's release of version 6.4.0.0 of
AnyDVD HD it is now also possible to make backup security copies of
Blu-ray discs protected with BD+.

Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group will have to revise his
statement from July, 2007 regarding BD+: "BD+, unlike AACS which
suffered a partial hack last year, won't likely be breached for 10
years". It is worth mentioning that since he made that statement only
eight months have gone by.

Peer van Heuen, head of High-Definition technologies at SlySoft adds:
"Admittedly, we are not really so fast with this because actually we
had intended to publish this release already in December as promised.
However, it was decided for strategic reasons to wait a bit for the
outcome of the "format war" between HD DVD and Blu-ray. On top of
that, we first wanted to see our assumptions confirmed about the in
the meantime released BD+ titles regarding the BD+ Virtual Machine. We
are rather proud to have brought back to earth the highly-praised and
previously "unbreakable" BD+. However, we must also admit that the
Blu-ray titles released up to now have not fully exploited the
possibilities of BD+. Future releases will undoubtedly have a modified
and more polished BD+ protection, but we are well prepared for this
and await the coming developments rather relaxed". Van Heuen adds
jokingly: "The worst-case scenario then is our boss locks us up with
only bread and water in the company dungeon for three months until we
are successful again".

Giancarlo Bettini, SlySoft CEO, adds, "We are convinced that today's
release will give the high-density market new impulse. It remains
unclear just what direction this will take. On the one hand, it can
give Blu-ray a boost because the end-user has the certainty in knowing
now that a backup security copy can also be made from Blu-ray disks
protected by BD+. On the other hand, one or more film studios may want
to reconsider their withdrawal from HD DVD and Toshiba could also
grant the high-density DVD a reprieve. HD DVD certainly deserves a
second chance, particularly since HD DVD hardware has obtained a
higher market share within the last months than its BD counterpart
from SONY. In any event, I wish all those involved a happy Easter from
the bottom of my heart."

[Ian]

Changelog AnyDVD HD 6.4.0.0 2008 03 19

- New (Blu-ray): Removes the BD+ protection from Blu-ray discs!
(for increased compatibility with titles released by Twentieth
Century Fox )
- New (Blu-ray): Added option to enable / disable BD+ removal
- New (DVD): AnyDVD ripper no longer uses the Windows filesystem, it
has now its own UDF parser / reader.
Discs which cannot be read by Windows can now be copied with the
AnyDVD ripper.
- Fix (Blu-ray): Black display with some BD discs, e.g., "Layer Cake",
second release, "The Fugitive", "Wild Things" (all Region B)
- Fix (DVD): Small bugfix in "repairing defective disc structure"
function of AnyDVD ripper
- Fix (DVD): Problems with some Arccos protected titles, e.g.
"The Grudge", R1, US
- Some minor fixes and improvements
- Updated languages

[Dartman]

HAHAHAHAHA.....Sorry

[dolphinius_rex]

Those guys are so full of themselves it's hard to read their press releases. At least they're admitting that BD+ is going to take an ongoing effort to crack and re-crack consistantly. Maybe they're just sore about having to put some on-going effort into their software?

Still, I can't help but see these guys as a bunch of whiners.

[Grain]

Still, I can't help but see these guys as a bunch of whiners.

I guess they've resorted to trading barbs with the studios, who have specifically targeted SlySoft in the past. I personally have no sympathy for the studios, even though I'm a Disney shareholder.

[Wesociety]

Maybe they're just sore about having to put some on-going effort into their software?

Slysoft has an established history of constantly updating their software. Even if it means providing an update for 1 specific disc that has a problem, they will do it.

From a consumer perspective, it is probably the best ripping software you could obtain.

[dolphinius_rex]

Maybe they're just sore about having to put some on-going effort into their software?

Slysoft has an established history of constantly updating their software. Even if it means providing an update for 1 specific disc that has a problem, they will do it.

From a consumer perspective, it is probably the best ripping software you could obtain.

Based on their attitude, and general whineyness, I really can't see myself ever using their software. Even if they release an update every time a disc is re-pressed with a tweaked protection, or a new disc comes out.

Now, if they can start behaving like a professional company again, I may change my mind.

[Wesociety]

Slysoft just has a consumer-oriented stance. They don't care about the studios, so they antagonize them in their press releases. Personally, I think it's humorous.

[Dartman]

It's the best ripping helper out there, nobody else comes close so we all use it. I think they're great and more power to them for giving the studios grief whenever possible, they deserve it with their attitude towards their consumers.

[dolphinius_rex]

Slysoft just has a consumer-oriented stance. They don't care about the studios, so they antagonize them in their press releases. Personally, I think it's humorous.

I couldn't call them consumer oriented. More like heavily opinionated, arrogant and a little pathetic (that patheric comment is a reference to their attempt to get their customers to buy into HD DVD, purely on their over inflated hatred for Sony).

Yes some of the studios suck sometimes. Fox is hyper paranoid at all times, and it bugs me too. Disney is a bit crazy as well depending on the situation. But then there are others, like Warner, who have pledged to not use region coding, and don't go overly nuts for high level protection methods.

And to be fair, studios need to protect their intellectual property to at least SOME extent. That's expected and normal and fair.

And you know, even Fox is starting to include digital copies of their movies on their discs, so you can copy that off and watch it on your computer without the disc. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a step in the right direction.

I'm sorry, I just get a little pissed off when people just jump on the hate bandwagon because it's the 'in thing'. People love to hate Sony, and it's popular and "cool" to do so. People love to hate studios, or MS A lot of people don't even know WHY they should hate them, or have really lame reasons And so very VERY few people ever stop to consider the OTHER side of issue. Maybe it just takes too much effort to get the facts and think things through in a fair and logical way?

[Ian]

I'm sorry, I just get a little pissed off when people just jump on the hate bandwagon because it's the 'in thing'. People love to hate Sony, and it's popular and "cool" to do so. People love to hate studios, or MS A lot of people don't even know WHY they should hate them, or have really lame reasons And so very VERY few people ever stop to consider the OTHER side of issue. Maybe it just takes too much effort to get the facts and think things through in a fair and logical way?

Well said.

As far as the digital copies that Fox and other studios are including.. I can't say that I'm a big fan. We're just trading one form of DRM for another and if you don't have an Apple media player, you're pretty much SOL.

[Wesociety]

I can see why the studios have a stake in protecting their content and try to make it as hard as possible to make digital copies (to curb piracy). But that's not my stake.

I have a stake in using my purchased product however I see fit. If I buy a disc, I want to be able to rip it, re-encode it, stream it, do whatever the hell I want with the content. If the studios prevent me from doing this (which they all try to do) I get pissed. Slysoft provides a way for me (and others) to do what we want. Yeah, they're a bit arrogant and over the top sometimes, but they provide an ends to a means, so I'm happy that they are around.

[Dartman]

I just had to almost sit through seems like 8 movie previews before I could actually watch 3:10 to Yuma, that really pisses me off too. I pay for my movie, then they force you to sit through commercials before you can watch it. I was able to skip through each one but this disk would not let me just jump straight to the menu to start the movie.
I think I'll get a BD burner just so I can redo the movies that do this and not be forced to watch this crap...Hopefully the media comes down in price sooner then later

[Grain]

I REALLY miss SD DVD's feature of hitting stop twice then play to jump straight to the movie. Having to sit through 5 minutes of ads and previews on both HD DVD & BD's blows. Some BD's are even worse, they load, then show the trailers etc, then have to load again for the feature.

[Jim]

Cool.

I think their release notes are pretty funny. Don't forget that they were singled out by name in press releases by the studios in the past. I might have to update my standard version and buy a PC drive now.