SlySoft's AnyDVD HD goes retail, Blu-ray beta in the works

It's hard out there for DRM these days, as we've got diligent users working 'round the clock to reinstate the fair use rights that AACS and similar restrictions seem to remove, and now there's an easy, streamlined, and costly method to cracking down on your HD DVD's DRM scheme. Those out there looking to make backups, view your content sans PowerDVD Ultra (or without an HDCP-compliant graphics card / display), get rid of user prohibitions, and skip over studio logos and warning messages should look no further, as SlySoft's AnyDVD HD has been relinquished from its brief stay in beta territory and is ready for purchase. While we've already seen just how compromised DRM is as a whole, and we've witnessed giant steps leading up to this occasion, this $79.99 software gives users a point-and-click approach to freeing up their protected content in order to make it a tad more user-friendly. Moreover, the company's marketing director insinuated that a Blu-ray version of the software should be hitting the beta stage "later this quarter," so if you're anxious to remove those chains from your precious HD DVDs, and don't want the bother with the free alternatives already out there, be sure to hit the read link with credit card in hand.

[Via DTV]

[Dr Buzz0 @ Feb 18th 2007 8:28PM]

Question (which probably has already been answered somewhere): Is it possible for AACS to shut this whole thing down with their "updatable security" or does the process key get implemented on a lower level than that, effectively rendering this DRM cracked as thoroughly as DVD copy protection has been?

[benjie @ Mar 10th 2007 3:18AM]

do you know that if nobody could copy hd dvd or bluray movies that would be the end of those people who work on protecting dvd movies? they would only be neede once! sony, toshiba, etc. would not manaufacture burners and of course dvd blanks of commercial quantities because the demand would be very low. it is a game!!!!

[anon @ Feb 18th 2007 9:03PM]

How long until this company is hit with its first lawsuit?

[Brennan @ Feb 18th 2007 9:21PM]

well thats the thing i see from all this backup stuff for HD DVDs n Blu-ray, lawsuit for copyright. Just to make sure im right, does this mean ppl will be able to make copies of, for example, King Kong - HD DVD just using this type of software?

[MegaMan @ Feb 18th 2007 11:20PM]

slysoft is in Argentina
the dmca isn't valid in this country
woot bring on blue-ray cracking

[sdsdv10 @ Feb 19th 2007 4:14PM]

"slysoft is in Argentina"

Actually, Slysoft is in Antigua, not Argentina. See quote below from their website FAQ.

Is Slysoft a new company from Elby?

No. We're a software company on the beautiful island Antigua. We have our own management and software development team. We purchased software from Elaborate Bytes and continue the development. Our relationship to Elby is purely business-based.

[Jay @ Feb 19th 2007 2:07AM]

This program is already cracked and available on the torrent sites. Gotta love that.

[Justin Nolan @ Feb 19th 2007 3:28AM]

Im copying Constantine to my harddrive right now. As far as "on-the-fly" remastering goes, having slysoft running allows me to play my hd-dvds at full-res in PowerDVD Ultra, whereas before I coudn't because of AACS protection. So it seems this works beautifully! Now we need one click remastering to WMV-HD so I can stream this stuff back to my 360!

[Roland @ Feb 19th 2007 4:52AM]

Justin, have you any idea how long it takes to encode 1080p into WMV? Just to give you an example: I encoded some private HDV-footage into 1080p lately. The clip was 10 minutes long and it took my P4 2.4 GHz THT WHOLE NIGHT to encode it! (over 8 hours)

So have fun encoding some 2-hour movies! For now, I will continue just buying HD DVDs in the store. But I have to say: Once you have an HD DVD burner and you can make lossless copies, things start to get tempting.

[Joey Geraci @ Feb 19th 2007 9:35AM]

I think the key words you are looking for are: 2.4 Ghz P4. I bet you also don't have a decent gpu to accelerate your encoding. This is positively ancient (more ancient than my 1.7 ghz banias p-m), and more recent dual core processors should be able to complete this sort of task much, much quicker. And if they are helped along by a decent gpu, that even lowers the time more.

[Spartacus @ Feb 19th 2007 1:04PM]

My first thought was that if ever a program 'deserved' to be cracked and torrented it was this one. Then I read Jay's comment and smiled.