DVD copying would appear to be within the realms of fair use. Just about everyone copies their CD collection for friends and family, so many figure why should DVDs be any different. Apparently the enforcement arm of the copyright industry does not share this sentiment, and has aggressively pursued those distributing or creating DVD copying software.

It all began in 1999 when Jon Lech Johansen and two other programmers wrote a small piece of code called DeCSS. DeCSS (Decrypt Content Scrambling System) was created to disable the weak copy protection scheme, dubbed CSS, which prevented DVD copying. The software was created so DVDs could be played on Linux machines, as no DVD media software existed at the time.

DeCSS would grow to become one of the most widely utilized DVD decrypting programs. An overwhelming majority of past and present decrypting applications use the DeCSS engine to perform this task - including DVD Decrypter.

DVD Decrypter quickly became one of the premiere DVD copying programs within the last two years. Although DVD-X-Copy was popular due to its simplicity, DVD Decrypter gave a wide range of options and control to the end user. The ability for the end user to heavily manipulate DVD Decrypter - and the fact it was free - allowed this program to become a popular asset to the DVD copying community.

However, its popularity would eventually lead to its undoing. It was surprising DVD Decrypter lasted as long as it did, especially with 321 Studio's DVD-X-Copy being banished to bowels of the Internet in early 2004. Today, in what many consider to be an unfortunate announcement, the developer of DVD Decrypter, "LIGHTNING UK!", has announced he too will cease the future distribution and development of his software.

"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."

In order to survive this ordeal with his finances intact, the developer of DVD Decrypter must transfer the domain "www.dvddecrypter.com" over to "a certain company" by the end of this week. Currently, the site is no longer available. The developer of DVD Decrypter was instead forced to announce this event on AfterDawn.com.

This story is filed in these Slyck News categories
Legal/Courtroom :: Developer Lawsuits
File-Sharing/P2P Related :: Software

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