DVD Decrypter
{{Short description|Microsoft Windows software application}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=December 2010}}
{{Infobox software
| name = DVD Decrypter
| logo = DVD Decrypter logo.png
| screenshot = DVD Decrypter screenshot.png
| screenshot size = 250px
| caption = Screenshot of DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0, the last version to be released
| developer = Lightning UK!
| latest_release_version = 3.5.4.0
| latest_release_date = {{release date and age|2005|3|21}}
| discontinued = yes
| operating_system = Microsoft Windows
| license = Freeware
| replaced_by = ImgBurn
| website = {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050603000241/http://www.dvddecrypter.com/ |date=June 3, 2005 |title=www.dvddecrypter.com }}
{{URL|www.dvddecrypter.org.uk}} Unofficial mirror website
}}
DVD Decrypter is a software application for Microsoft Windows that can create backup disk images of the DVD-Video structure of DVDs. It can be used to make a copy of any DVD protected with Content Scrambling System (CSS). The program can also record images to disc — functionality that the author has now incorporated into a separate product called ImgBurn. The software also allows a copy of a region-specific DVD to be made region free. It also removes Macrovision content protection, CSS, region codes, and user operation prohibition.
Legality in the United States
As DVD Decrypter facilitates the removal of copy restrictions, certain uses may be illegal under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act unless making copies that are covered under the Fair Use doctrine (or in some cases illegal even when making copies under fair use). In countries without similar laws there may not be any legal restrictions.
On June 6, 2005, the developer, Lightning UK!, announced{{cite web|url=http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/DVD-Decrypter---Gone-Forever.html |title=Cease and desist letter published at CD Freaks |publisher=Cdfreaks.com |date=April 22, 2006 |accessdate=September 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830092008/http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/DVD-Decrypter---Gone-Forever.html |archivedate=August 30, 2008 |df=mdy }} via the CD Freaks{{cite web|url=http://www.cdfreaks.com |title=CDFreaks.com |publisher=CDFreaks.com |date=April 22, 2006 |accessdate=September 4, 2011}} website that he received a cease and desist letter from Macrovision.{{cite web |url=http://www.slyck.com/story1007.html |title=Slyck News - Macrovision Forces Removal of DVD Decrypter |publisher=Slyck.com |date=November 24, 2005 |accessdate=September 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207061027/http://www.slyck.com/story1007.html |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |url-status=dead }} He later stated it was within his best interests to comply with the letter, and stopped development of the program. By June 7, 2005, a mirror site was up,{{cite web|url=http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/ |title=(now at DVDDecrypter.org.uk, aka "The original unofficial DVD Decrypter mirror") |publisher=DVDDecrypter.co.uk |date=June 7, 2005 |accessdate=September 4, 2011}} which allowed people to download the final version (3.5.4.0). On November 27, 2005, Afterdawn.com, a Finnish website, announced that it complied with a letter received from Macrovision demanding that DVD Decrypter be taken down from its site.
Under United States federal law, making a backup copy of a DVD-Video or an audio CD by a consumer is legal under fair use protection. However, this provision of United States law conflicts with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibition of so-called "circumvention measures" of copy protections.
In the "321" case, Federal District Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California,[http://dvdxcopy.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/72527 Judge: DVD-copying software is illegal], afterdawn.com, February 20, 2004. ruled that the backup copies made with software such as DVD Decrypter are legal but that distribution of the software used to make them is illegal.
In 2010, the Librarian of Congress instituted a DMCA exemption which protects circumvention of CSS protection under certain circumstances.[https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2010/10-169.html DMCA Rules for Exemptions Regarding Circumvention of Access-Control Technologies], loc.gov, April 16, 2011 This exemption expired in 2013.{{Update after|2013}}
On October 4, 2005, Lightning UK! continued the development of the burning engine used by DVD Decrypter in his new tool, ImgBurn.{{cite web|url=http://www.imgburn.com/ |title=Official ImgBurn website |publisher=Imgburn.com |date= |accessdate=September 4, 2011}} However, for legal reasons, ImgBurn does not have the ability to circumvent copy protections of encrypted DVDs.
See also
- DeCSS
- DVD ripper (list of various related programs)
- AnyDVD
- DVD Shrink
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvd Decrypter}}
Category:Internet in the United States