- SlySoft
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SlySoft Inc. is a software company located in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Its products consist of software to back up and convert digital media, including CDs, DVDs, HD DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs, as well as copy and back up optical media and render PC-based games playable without the disc.
Contents
Products
- AnyDVD to remove/disable DRM restrictions and user prohibited operations on DVD films, and to fix structure protections and mastering errors
- AnyDVD HD - to remove DRM, lock-outs, and UOPs on DVD films and additionally High Definition media, specifically Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD
- CloneCD - to copy optical discs in raw format
- CloneDVD - to copy non-DRM DVD movies to the hard disk or Single or Dual-Layer DVD blanks (sold also by Elaborate Bytes AG)
- CloneDVD mobile - to convert DVD files to mobile video players like the iPod or the PlayStation Portable[1]
- Game Jackal - to create CD profiles so a disc isn't required when starting the game
- Game Jackal Enterprise - extended version of Game Jackal with additional features such as automatic distribution of game profiles to client machines[2]
- Virtual CloneDrive is a disk image emulator. It is designed for mounting images created by the SlySoft programs CloneCD (.CCD files) and AnyDVD HD (*.ISO files), it can also mount BIN formats.[3]
AACS and BD+
SlySoft was the first to offer AACS circumvention that worked for any disc available; previous programs only cracked "compatible" discs using a database of known keys.
On November 8, 2007, SlySoft claimed to have completely cracked BD+. However, this turned out to be incorrect, as subsequent versions of BD+ security code have caused SlySoft to re-design its software. On March 3, 2008, SlySoft updated AnyDVD HD allowing the full decryption of BD+,[4] allowing for not only the viewing of the film itself but also playing and copying disks with third-party software. A third iteration of BD+ was released in November 2008, and was announced to be cracked by SlySoft with the release of AnyDVD HD 6.5.0.2 on December 29, 2008.[5] A fourth version of BD+ security code was discovered with the movie Australia on February 17, 2009, thwarting the effectiveness of SlySoft's software.[6][7]
However on March 19, 2009, SlySoft updated AnyDVD HD to version 6.5.3.1 which allowed the decryption of the new version of BD+ used by the movie Australia.[8]
Licensing
On December 1, 2008 SlySoft announced it would for the first time begin charging its customers for updates to its software.[9]
In November 2010, SlySoft initially announced the discontinuation of the lifetime licensing option beginning January 2011. An e-mail[10] announcing the change ahead of time was sent to all registered customers allowing everyone the chance to purchase the lifetime option "while it is still possible;" and the notice was posted to their official forums. In January 2011, all announcements regarding the change were deleted without comment and a new structured licensing plan was put into place; including the lifetime licensing option at the highest priced tier. The new 'update service' will block free updates without the lifetime licence, but the current paid non-lifetime software licences will continue to work, sans-update, indefinitely.
See also
- AnyDVD
- CloneCD
- CloneDVD
- DVD ripper software with similar features
- DVD Shrink
- HandBrake
- K9Copy
References
- ^ Clone DVD mobile
- ^ Game Jackal Enterprise
- ^ Virtual CloneDrive
- ^ SlySoft Press Release
- ^ SlySoft defeats Blu-ray's BD+ DRM scheme again
- ^ BD+ discs that may not work properly with AnyDVD HD
- ^ BD+ re-secured, SlySoft beaten
- ^ AnyDVD Version Change Log
- ^ Press release: SlySoft announces new update policy
- ^ Original text of the announcement
Further reading
- "Appapalooza", Computer Power User (CPU), October 2009 • Vol.9 Issue 10, Pages 60–70
- "What's Happening", Computer Power User (CPU), January 2008 • Vol.8 Issue 1, Pages 6–11
- "What's Happening", Computer Power User (CPU), March 2009 • Vol.9 Issue 3, Pages 9–16
- "The Bleeding Edge Of Software", Computer Power User (CPU), February 2009 • Vol.9 Issue, 2 Page 72
External links
Free software Proprietary software Alcohol 120% · Daemon Tools · DiskImageMounter · Disk Utility · MagicISO · PowerISO · Roxio Toast · UltraISO · Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel · Virtual CloneDrive · VirtualDrive ProCategories:- Articles to be expanded with sources
- Software companies of Antigua and Barbuda
- Cryptography companies
- Disk image emulators
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