Companies Withdraw Blu-ray Rippers Following DVDFab Lawsuit

[Ernesto]

As reported earlier this week, a New York federal court has granted the seizure of domain names, bank funds and social media accounts belonging to ripping software outfit DVDFab.

The decision follows legal action taken by AACS, the decryption licensing group founded by movie and technology partners including Warner Bros, Disney, Microsoft and Intel. The companies say that the Chinese company behind DVDFab violates the DMCA’s anti-circumvention clause by selling tools that can bypass their DVD encryption.

The orders of Judge Broderick, handed down after a DVDFab no-show, will see the company lose several domains, its social media accounts, bank account funds and payment processing options. Now, several days later, the effects of the ruling are being felt by other companies offering similar products.

First up Aiseesoft, another Chinese-based company behind a suite of video and ripping tools. The company was singled out in February’s USTR “rogue site” report for offering products that “allow users to circumvent technical protection measures and view video content in an unauthorized manner.”





Despite DVDFab never appearing on the “rogue” list, that company was targeted first, something that has clearly unsettled Aiseesoft. As reported by a Myce user, this week following the DVDFab ruling the company began sending out emails to its users, announcing its exit from the ripping market.

“Here I would like to represent our Company, Aiseesoft to inform all of you that as Aiseesoft settles a new product development plan, in which Aiseesoft will no longer sell software that rip or copy Blu-ray/DVD Videos,” the broken English email begins.

“According to that, we will remove some products that are relevant to Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow (20140314), which means you and your visitors will lose the access to any products that involved. It is a hard decision for us to make. But we have to focus attention on products that are promising.”

As can be seen from the Aiseesoft website, all DVD and Blu-ray ripping software has now been removed. While the company will no doubt be seeking its deletion from the USTR’s notorious markets list next time round, others not on the list are also seeing the writing on the wall.

Canada-based LG Software Innovations has also announced that it will discontinue its 1CLICK BLURAY COPY software.

Citing issues with the Cinavia Blu-ray protection mechanism, the lawsuit against DVDFab, and the apparent inability of companies outside the US to escape the jurisdiction of US courts, the company said that its forthcoming Blu-ray product will be shut down.

“Unfortunately, in light of recent events, we will not be releasing a final Blu-ray copy product for sale,” the company said.

“It was once thought that companies that were situated outside the U.S. could operate with impunity; this no longer appears to be the case. We do not wish to take any risks that could jeopardize our ability to continue to provide support and updates to our loyal 1CLICK users.”

But just as others exit the market, DVDFab says it is making every effort to undermine the actions taken against it, with new domains, a new support site, prize giveaways, product discounts and even protest graphics.

“In order to protect the interests of our existing customers, we have already recovered all the normal businesses to www.dvdfab.cn. At the same time, we promise to reverse the situation through every possible effort,” the company said on its new support site, ILikeDVDFab.com.

“DVDFab Team as a whole, will stick to the same mission in the years to come, to better your entertainment life. We shall not perish from this earth!”

In the meantime Slysoft, the business behind the famous AnyDVD software, remains on the USTR’s rogue list. The company, reportedly based in Antigua and Barbuda, has shown no public reaction to the DVDFab decision and continues to offer its products as normal.


Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and VPN services.


Originally Published: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:26:47 +0000
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[RobertX]

No refuge for people who just want to backup their discs.

Big ups to DVDFab, AnyDVD, and Handbrake.