Judge orders sales of "ripper version" DVDVXCOPY stopped by this Friday

[papau]

From email:

Judge Illston of the Northern District of California Court ruled against 321 Studios last Friday and in favor of the movie studios, in the first major decision in the six lawsuits in which they are now involved.


Her ruling included an injunction preventing 321 Studios from continuing to sell the current version of the our popular DVDXCOPY software if it included a ripper. This injunction takes effect this coming Friday. 321 Studios will fully comply with the order and, at the same time, file an appeal and ask her to stay the injunction pending the appeal.


Starting next week, 321 Studios will sell ripper-free versions of DVDXCOPY as well as their other popular titles including DVDXSHOW, DVDXMAKER and DVDXPOINT.


Judge Illston’s decision and articles written about 321 Studios are posted at their web site at http://www.321studios.com.

If you’d like to offer your support, please visit http://www.protectfairuse.org.

[hlthe2b]

1. By the way... if you want to get the software with the full

functionality (including the "ripper") you have until Thursday to do so. But, you must also register it at the same time (so if you are buying for installation on a machine other than one you currently have, you must make sure that they register the software at the same time that you purchase).

Just an FYI.... To me, losing the opportunity to repair/replace my legally purchased DVDs and CDs because of this court ruling (which may or may not be successfully appealed) was not something I wanted to risk.... If they lose the appeal, we will all be at the mercy of the studios and recording industry to pay $15-$25 and up to replace a damaged disk you already own....They have plenty of stock, but you probably need to contact them immediately if you want to purchase before the court order takes effect.

[NashVegas]

5. Disagree - *sort of*

Going by my understanding of the '70s / '80s rulings: it was ruled okay to tape copies of LPs for personal use, and TV shows onto VHS for the same, as a matter of convenience.

When vinyl records ruled, cassettes were convenient because of their portability. I never saw a car stereo system that featured a turntable, and if you owned the vinyl, it was a ridiculous assertion on the labels' part that we should be obligated to purchase a cassette when we'd already bought the LP.

With VCRs, TV was free, or, if we bought cable, we weren't purchasing individual programs. Again, it was a matter of convenience.

With DVDs and CDs, I'm not so sure the convenience argument - even for back-ups - is all that valid. The objects are easily portable, so you lose the argument "well I already bought it in this format, so why should I ...." It wasn't a valid argument for VHS, either, by the courts' rulings. This is also why it's perfectly legal for you to copy your CDs into mp3 format.

If you lose picture quality on a DVD, chances are it's your own fault for not handling it carefully. Same for a CD. It's not that difficult to handle these objects by their edges and only by their edges.

If you purchase any other durable good and destroy it by your own actions, the manufacturer is not obligated to give you a replacement copy. Until the courts change their reasoning why some copying is legal and others aren't, why should it be different for DVDs and CDs?

Keep in mind: when "DVD Jon" created DeCSS, it was because there was no DVD support for Linux at the time.

[smb]

8. Why Backups Are A Right

If you purchase any other durable good and destroy it by your own actions, the manufacturer is not obligated to give you a replacement copy. Until the courts change their reasoning why some copying is legal and others aren't, why should it be different for DVDs and CDs?

The recording industry wants to have it both ways. When they want to restrict what you do with a recording you've purchased, they say that what you've purchased is not the physical object inscribed with ones and zeroes, but rather a license to play the message encoded therein. However, any time that interpretation would benefit the purchaser (e.g. replacement of a failed copy), they suddenly switch to the argument that what you've purchased isn't a license, but rather a little plastic disk.

If Democrats had stood up on their hind legs and laughed bills like the DMCA out of the halls of Congress, Ralph Nader would be enjoying his retirement.

[hlthe2b]

14. yes, I agree with you totally, smb

[NashVegas]

22. Not Talking About 'Failed' Copy

I'm talking about copies that bit the dust because the owner failed to treat them with adequate care. If you own a disc that bites the dust, even though it has no discernable physical flaws, it's time to check your equipment and/or talk with other owners of the same disc and see if you can prove the product is faulty and get a recall.

[Tuttle]

34. I'm so sick of my public library taking food out of the publisher's mouth

I was at the library the other day and -- can you believe it -- they has a copy machine!!! You could copy anything as long as you kept feeding it dimes! Where will it all end! Soon we'll all be walking around, using Jon Stewart quips as if we thought them up ourselves!!!

Sorry for being facetious but I find the library analogy to be very apt! The library in the neighboring town has an unbelievably jazz CD collection and (because of loaning privileges that extend beyond one's own zip code) now, so do I!

Thanks Carnegie family!

Tut-tut

[hlthe2b]

11. Fine....

When DVD/CD were sold with the "durability" promise years ago, I would have agreed. I have wasted hundreds of dollars on warped DVDs and CDs that play on one machine but not another or play once or twice and then start skipping. (and I am scrupulous in my care of all digital media). So, given that, I definitely disagree.

As one who has NEVER illegally downloaded ANYTHING and don't distribute copies of anything I own to anyone esle. I simply want to have a playing copy of the media that I have purchased. I really have to resent that the industry is not content with the incredible profit they already got from me. If this is going to be their approach, then they need to quality control the disks they produce from some low waged worker in Asia and guarantee some lifetime use for the product.

[NashVegas]

21. Warped?

If I'd bought a disc that was warped, I'd return it immediately. If it starts skipping within 2 plays and there are no discernible marks, it should be returned as defective. If it plays on one machine but not another, it could be defective, or it could be the other machine is defective and the disc is more sensitive to the problem than others.

Personally, I don't have a lot against back-ups, it's the legal issue I wonder about. A warrantee could be doable, provided you could prove the disc was defective (never hurts to hold a new disc up to the light and look for pinholes).

[MidwestTransplant]

9. Do you need a DVD burner to use this?

[hlthe2b]

12. yes

[Robb]

2. Ignorant judge.

Ignorance, and money on the side of the movie studios. What a stupid, stupid ruling. :thumbsdown:

Gun owners, take note. This is that slipperly slope you've heard about, where an item is outlawed because of something you might do with it.

[raifield]

3. Like this will do anything...

...now if you'll excuse me, I have to download DVDXCOPY off of my P2P service for free, with the ripper included.

Who is the judge kidding here? Herself? The fact that it was declared illegal means that it will become more prolific in the underground networks, meaning more people will have it than before!

[PsychoDad]

4. That's what I was thinking...

Thanks Judge for letting me know what software to use... LOL

[kodi]

6. been usng the software for a while now to backup my own dvds

good stuff too.

[joeunderdog]

10. Help me out here> The software allows duplication without erosion of pic

quality? Is that it?

I've done all my audio from album to HD, etc. and used the sharing sites for music. I'm just now getting to video. Is the DVD program referenced above for duping dvd's? What's the ripper? This ruling effects programs currently available in stores (til friday)?

[hlthe2b]

16. well, there are clearly others here more knowledgeable than me...

but they don't seem to be answering your questions, so I'll try. This program (with the "ripper" function) allows one to copy any DVD or CD media-- regardless of the copyright coding or any other means applied by the manufacturer. Yes, the program does not have to go off market until Thursday midnight (Friday morning) according to the company. However, you may well see the product has jumped off the shelves, since many have been watching for this decision. So, if you don't see it at your local store, best get online with the company (which is also getting blasted with calls/orders today).

[Cooley Hurd]

18. DVDXCOPY Platinum is the best (and most expensive)...

Minimal loss of signal when copying...

Get it while you can, even if you don't have a dvd burner yet...

[Don Claybrook]

23. r.e. Minimal Signal Loss

I was under the impression that there was NO signal loss, that DVD XCopy made a copy of the DVD, bit-for-bit, so that you have precisely the same as the original.

Is this not the case?

Thanks.

[Cooley Hurd]

24. I'm sorry - yes it does. DVDXCOPY Gold is the one...

...that degrades video. My bad... :) I have both (*cough*p2p*cough*)

[Don Claybrook]

26. :)

Yeah, I noticed that about 45 users had it shared out on Limewire. Probably more than that today.

It seems to me like the XCopy Express applet that comes with Platinum does a better job of copying--less errors and so on, but that's just my unscientific observation.

I'd better sign off--I'm starting to have a coughing fit myself.

[BootinUp]

30. Depends on the length/size of the original

DVD burners are limited to about 4.7 GB I believe. Many commercial DVD's come on a double layer disc that holds up 9 GB. So this product, Xcopy, can squeeze the 9 GB onto a 4.7 GB disc by re-compressing the video. You can also exclude certain features from the original to make it easier to fit on a single layer disc. The beauty of this product is that it is an all-in-one and made the job so much easier, than using the separate pieces of software out there.

[Don Claybrook]

32. Thanks. I didn't know that.

I knew that DVD's were/could be layered, but I guess I was under the impression that PC DVD burners did the multiple layer burning also. Good to know. Thanks.

[Tuttle]

33. Lots of this space is consumed

with 'The Making of Giglo' documentaries, profiles of Ben/J-Lo and multiple language streams (sometimes pop-ups dialogs and alternate versions). You can usually backup the main movie with a minimal amount of compression (if any) using the free backup programs - they will also preserve menus with functionality intact if small enough.

Not sure if the $200 DVDXcopy Platinum does this as well - I only use the free stuff.

Tut-tut

[DemNoir]

7. This is of little consequence

The best DVD copying software just happens to be a free program called DVDShrink. Look for it at a search engine near you.

[Tuttle]

31. Agreed...

DVDShrink is way better. My boss uses DVDXCopy and every film I seen that he has 'backed up' begins with the 321 logo. Sort of makes you wonder what else they write to that disc...

I checked out the forums at 321's website and, suffice it to say, they are HUGE (Note: generally end-users who love software usually don't bother to register for a web based forum to rant about what a good product their software is...) My guess is there have been many complaints about the cost of DVDXCopy vs the functionality and this has contributed to this ruling.

Check out DVDShrink, if you have a burner.

Tut-tut

[SideshowScott]

13. Um... Question!

Q: Whats the diffrance bewteen this and recording films with a VCR?
I mean I would record movies all the time with 2 VCRS for my own use.

[hlthe2b]

15. They never cared about VHS and cassette recordings....

because the quality was so poor. But digital age, means that DVD and CD's can be reproduced at the same quality as the original source. So, they are afraid individuals will distribute. The fact is that some might, but with DVD's coming down in price, the temptation is decreasing as well. I have no problem shelling out $15-20 for a DVD, if it will work, and if it has some lifespan in terms of durability. Unfortunately many have found that CDs and DVDs are being mass produced in Asia with poor quality control, so that even if you scrupulously care for these disks, they still may not "last". Products like DVDxcopy allows you to copy a damaged (warped or scratched) disk and restore it to normal condition.

[Walt Starr]

17. Nothing that 4 lines of Perl can't solve

Who needs ripping software? I certainly don't.

:shrug:

[tkmorris]

20. People who don't know Perl?

Did you really intend to simply be derisive of people who can't code Perl? That doesn't sound like you Walt.

[Walt Starr]

27. Nope, just pointing out how simple it is to get around this stuff

On top of that, you can get the code from numerous sites on the web, you don't need to know Perl.

You just can't find it on any sites in the United States or sites in nations with similar laws to the DMCA.

[tkmorris]

29. That's true

Before Napster et al you used to be able to accomplish the same things using newsgroups. No one really seemed to care much though, I imagine because you had to do a little extra work to manage it so not too many did.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

28. Yeah, well, what about BASIC?

And besides that, I've got a pretty good contraband ring going - we copy punchcards. They're really good analog copies. I've got a punchcard set of "The Passion" ready to go, so you can review it without giving your money! 'Course, each card is basically one frame of the movie, so it's kinda time-consuming to keep feeding cards, but it's still nice.

[JasonBerry]

19. 1 click DVD Copy

This is an excellent program and I use it over the 321 products (the "x copy" series). It is called, "1 Click DVD Copy".....so incredibly easy and the quality is stunning.
http://1clickdvdcopy.com/

[nolabels]

35. Thanks

:-)

[Emillereid]

25. What software should I use with a Mac?