Slysoft has closed down

[dbcooper]

SlySoft has shut down its website and ceased sales of the popular Blu-ray ripping software AnyDVD (https://torrentfreak.com/popular-blu-ray-ripper-shuts-down-following-legal-pressure-160224/)

Very, very annoying for people who like to play DVDs and Blu-ray discs through their HTPC.

[Sparktank]

I used to use MakeMKV for remuxing so I can do various editing and playing around in AVS.

But then DVDFab had a couple giveaway events to hand out free Lifetime Pro versions of their Passkey.
Which operates like AnyDVD-HD but is separate from other DVDFab encoders and tools.

I'll probably buy MakeMKV when it's out of BETA.
I was so glad DVDFab had their promos.
AnyDVD-HD for life was too pricy and didn't really like the idea of paying any less until I could buy lifetime.

It's good there's more options out there.

[Mark_Venture]

Trying to find an alternative now... I had Anydvdhd lifetime for years now. That to rip and BD-Rebuilder to convert to MKV was great.

I got a license for DVDFab Passkey when they were giving them out free. Going to have to reach out to their support because there are issues with it working and listing any drive as a source to rip from, even though they are listed in the settings screen.

What other options are there to rip and feed to BD-Rebuilder?

[Ghitulescu]

I was surprised to see how long they resisted.

[Atak_Snajpera]

I wonder why they didn't register their company in more "civilized" countries like Russia or China? ;)

BTW. Is MakeMKV a Russian project?

[Stereodude]

Will it still work for people who bought it? Or did it phone home to get the decryption keys rendering it now useless?

[nevcairiel]

Will it still work for people who bought it? Or did it phone home to get the decryption keys rendering it now useless?

Unless they release an offline version of the database, it will only decrypt discs which you have the key locally cached for (ie. those that you decrypted once before)

BTW. Is MakeMKV a Russian project?

It would appear so, yes.

[Atak_Snajpera]

It would appear so, yes.
So they are safe forever ;)

[Video Dude]

Will it still work for people who bought it? Or did it phone home to get the decryption keys rendering it now useless?

It will continue to work for all discs that have been released until now and a portion of discs that will be released in the future. Future discs that are protected by an updated key or a new BD+ will not work.

AnyDVD did not require a phone home to decrypt. There was an online decryption database, but that was for recently released discs. Those new decryptions would then be put into the local database of the newest versions of the program. So if you always kept it updated to the latest version you would not technically need the online database.

[Stereodude]

Unless they release an offline version of the database, it will only decrypt discs which you have the key locally cached for (ie. those that you decrypted once before)
This does not seem to be the case based on my testing (after I got home from work).

[nevcairiel]

This does not seem to be the case based on my testing (after I got home from work).

Their last offline database is from the middle of 2015, so thats as far as it'll get you.
If they are truely gone for good, usefulness of any old version will degrade every day, so while it gives you some time before action is required, alternate solutions would be advised.

There is already reports from some people that can't open some discs anymore, fwiw.

[Stereodude]

I have an alternate solution... Don't buy new Blu-ray releases since it's unclear if I will be able to use them in the manner I want in the future.

[manolito]

I wonder why they didn't register their company in more "civilized" countries like Russia or China? ;)

BTW. Is MakeMKV a Russian project?

Going by the name of the developer (Mike Chen) it looks more like Chinese...


Cheers
manolito

[datman]

Is DVDfab a replacement?

[Chetwood]

I was surprised to see how long they resisted.
I'm rather surprised they caved in now. They are based in Antigua and develop software that's perfectly legal there, is it not?

[Sharc]

Will it still work for people who bought it? Or did it phone home to get the decryption keys rendering it now useless?
SlySoft gave the answers in the SlySoft Forum

[candela]

Their last offline database is from the middle of 2015, so thats as far as it'll get you.
If they are truely gone for good, usefulness of any old version will degrade every day, so while it gives you some time before action is required, alternate solutions would be advised.

There is already reports from some people that can't open some discs anymore, fwiw.

Wouldn't that only work if the pre-mid2015 disc is already in the database? If you keep buying new movies, sooner or later your drive will revoke Anydvd's player certificate. Then Anydvd won't be be able to decode any disc that is not already in the database, no matter what year it is from.

Everybody needs to switch to DVDFab, extract those VUKs with FindVUK and share them with AACS Updater!

[candela]

Found this

https://forum.slysoft.com/threads/slysoft-closed.68304/page-4#post-423889


James (SlySoft Development Team) said:

dvd4fun said:
Is the product self sufficient without the online decryption database?
This depends on the disc / protection.
DVDs: All DVDs should continue work. OPD is only used to speed up things, it is optional.
HD-DVDs: All work.
Blu-Ray AACS: AnyDVD contains data for roughly 130000 discs, these will continue to work. Discs not included in AnyDVD will need the OPD. OPD results will be cached locally, if you copy the cache, you can move it to another PC.
Blu-Ray BD+, 20th Century Fox: Recent discs (1-2 years?) need OPD. Older titles work. OPD results will be cached locally, if you copy the cache, you can move it to another PC.
Blu-Ray Java protection (mostly Lionsgate): Recent discs (1 year?) need OPD. Older titles work. OPD results are not cached.
Blu-ray cinavia: Will continue to work with current players & software.

Note for the technical skilled: The servers are still running, probably as long as the bills are paid, but their DNS entries are removed.
If you have a router with a DNS proxy or can edit your Windows hosts file, you can add a key.slysoft.com with an IP address for one of the key server proxies.
I don't know how long the servers will continue to run.

dvd4fun said:
If no registration/validation servers are responding, will we be able to install the last version on our new machines in the future?
There are no registration/validation servers. I always insisted, that we don't follow the trend with "key authentication". AnyDVD and the key is not bound to your hardware. As long as you have your keyfile, you can install it on your PC.

Hope this helps.

[duedel]

I'm rather surprised they caved in now. They are based in Antigua and develop software that's perfectly legal there, is it not?

UHD Bluray is about to come out.
Coincidence?

[sneaker_ger]

Somebody should develop a tool to sync all cached data between users to extend its life a bit.

[Chetwood]

Won't help much when the new BDs (not only UHD BD) get updated protection schemes.

[Ghitulescu]

I wonder why they didn't register their company in more "civilized" countries like Russia or China? ;)
DVD Fab was based in China and it closed earlier :)

[johner23]

Hi, dear all.


@duedel UHD Bluray is about to come out.
Coincidence?


See below:


---> http://www.myce.com/news/dvdfab-we-will-not-decrypt-or-circumvent-aacs-2-0-in-the-days-to-come-78698/



Thanks.


Best regards.

devil (johner)

[Atak_Snajpera]

DVD Fab was based in China and it closed earlier :)

So it looks like Mother Russia is the last safe place then ;) At least scums from AACS LA won't kill MakeMKV. I'm sure that russian courts will dismiss any claims from company located in USA. Especially now in these times.

[nevcairiel]

DVD Fab was based in China and it closed earlier :)

Where do you get that from? Still seems to be up and running and probably having the sales day of their life.

The only thing I see is the announcement about UHD, but nothing that would impact functionality of their existing BD product.

[73ChargerFan]

I thought DVDFab was b*tch slapped in US court a year or two ago, and were operating on borrowed time. Their statement that they won't hack AACS 2.0, and slysoft's departure, highlights the true state of affairs.

[duedel]

Damn, looks like those AACS guys are coming down hard on their "enemies".

Hi, dear all.


@duedel


See below:


---> http://www.myce.com/news/dvdfab-we-will-not-decrypt-or-circumvent-aacs-2-0-in-the-days-to-come-78698/



Thanks.


Best regards.

devil (johner)

[sneaker_ger]

However, Fengtao Software Inc. makes it clear that the company will not decrypt or circumvent AACS 2.0 in the days to come.
Isn't "in the days to come" just a synonym for "within the next days"? Let's not jump to conclusions given we only have a single source that might simply have misunderstood the DVDFab crew.

[Perenista]

For the record, in Brazil there is no law against what AnyDVD does:

LINK ('https://translate.google.com.br/translate?sl=pt&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=pt-BR&ie=UTF-8&u=http://www.direitonet.com.br/artigos/exibir/1908/Limitacoes-ao-direito-do-autor-na-lei-brasileira-copia-privada-e-engenharia-reversa-de-software&edit-text=')

It´s possible to read the 1998 law here: http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=125393

And there are the amendments from the 2003 Penal Code (see article 184 here ('https://translate.google.com.br/translate?sl=pt&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=pt-BR&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.planalto.gov.br%2Fccivil_03%2Fdecreto-lei%2FDel2848.htm&edit-text=') - and article here ('https://translate.google.com.br/translate?hl=pt-BR&sl=pt&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.conjur.com.br%2F2007-ago-20%2Fdownload_filmes_livros_uso_privado_nao_crime&sandbox=1')), however in both cases, only when there's direct/indirect profit, there's violation, otherwise nothing will happen. Backup of copyrighted content is allowed for the owner/private use. I don't recall any mentioning of any law or even case where someone has been sued for reverse engineering. Even Microsoft lost a case where they sued a company for making copies from the OS:

LINK ('https://translate.google.com.br/translate?sl=pt&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=pt-BR&ie=UTF-8&u=http://www.conjur.com.br/2008-nov-14/empresa_copias_software_uso_interno&edit-text=')

I don't know how other countries deal with this, so here's my suggestion. Although, as Mike Mozart would say in the "MegaUpload Dangerous Secrets affect YOU" Youtube video, you can't even have the slightest presence of your company in a country like the U.S. (or any other that caves to them), because that will make you a target. Megaupload had servers, if I am not mistaken, in one of those countries, even though they were based in Hong Kong, and that was used as an excuse to destroy them.

[73ChargerFan]

At least some of MegaUpload's servers were in the United States.
https://torrentfreak.com/hosting-company-wants-to-wipe-1103-megaupload-servers-150814/

[datman]

So its either dvdfab9 or makemkv? Without anydvd will either be able to update?

[Sparktank]

So its either dvdfab9 or makemkv? Without anydvd will either be able to update?

DVDfab 9 is the bloated converter suite.

Passkey 8 is what's lightweight like AnyDVD.

And I guess it would depend largely on user submissions.
The DVDFab forums are not nearly as active as the MakeMKV forums.

[Thunderbolt8]

DVDfab doesnt seem to be the choice of the future if they refuse to make UHD Blu-rays work.

lets just hope some person finds out AACS 2.0 will work and starts posting some keys, like at the beginning with blu-rays. other people might then be able to turn this into a new software.

[starscomeout]

I own AnyDVD HD and use BDRB (Blue-ray Rebuilder) to rip my Blue-ray movies to hard drives. I was very disappointed to discover today that AnyDVD HD is no longer working.

My question is: Is there another decrypter that will work with BDRB or does this also make BDRB obsolete?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide me.

-Don

[Rich86]

I own AnyDVD HD and use BDRB (Blue-ray Rebuilder) to rip my Blue-ray movies to hard drives. I was very disappointed to discover today that AnyDVD HD is no longer working.

My question is: Is there another decrypter that will work with BDRB or does this also make BDRB obsolete?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide me.

-Don

check out DVDFab "Passkey" . .

[Mark_Venture]

I own AnyDVD HD and use BDRB (Blue-ray Rebuilder) to rip my Blue-ray movies to hard drives. I was very disappointed to discover today that AnyDVD HD is no longer working.

My question is: Is there another decrypter that will work with BDRB or does this also make BDRB obsolete?Take a look at DVDFab Passkey http://www.dvdfab.cn/passkey-for-blu-ray.htm It looks and works very similarly to AnyDvd.

Keep in mind that while AnyDVD HD decrypted both DVD and Blurays, Passkey comes as Bluray Only, and DVD Only versions. You need to buy both if you want to decrypt both.

DVDFab had two give a ways back in October and November. I was lucky enough to catch November's and got a free lifetime license for Passkey (both DVD and Bluray), but didn't install it until now. So far so good on the 5 discs I've ripped with it. So that is what I'll use, unless/until something better (that is as simple to use) comes along.

[Ghitulescu]

Where do you get that from? Still seems to be up and running and probably having the sales day of their life.

https://torrentfreak.com/images/dvdfabchange.jpg
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=43216
https://torrentfreak.com/images/AACSl.pdf

I admit I haven't investigated further (for I assumed the results are the expected ones).

China will be curbed down soon.

[Stereodude]

It's been widely suspected that the other decrypters simply reverse engineer AnyDVD to get their keys. With AnyDVD gone it will be interesting to see if the others are able to decrypt and handle new discs.

[jkauff]

Apparently the MPAA thinks its members are selling too many discs. The HTPC crowd isn't a huge market, but it will be missed when people stop buying discs they can't watch from their computers.

Watching a Blu-ray on a standalone player is almost as bad as going to the movie theater. No way to skip the commercials and previews.

[Chetwood]

China will be curbed down soon.

Says who?

[foxyshadis]

https://torrentfreak.com/images/dvdfabchange.jpg
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=43216
https://torrentfreak.com/images/AACSl.pdf

I admit I haven't investigated further (for I assumed the results are the expected ones).

China will be curbed down soon.

Er, DVDFab has been selling and updating their Bluray decryptor outside the US uninterrupted all along. US users can even access its online database without a problem, they only did the bare minimum to redirect US users to another web site. You should investigate further, they haven't shut down at all.

The UHD statement is most likely because they don't have the technical expertise to immediately crack AACS2, so they're going to have to wait until someone releases (or sells them) a crack.

[foxyshadis]

Found this

https://forum.slysoft.com/threads/slysoft-closed.68304/page-4#post-423889

Excellent info. I hope someone starts collecting all of the caches and combining them into a super-cache, because AnyDVD is a pretty good piece of software, and it'd be a shame to lose all of that BD+ decryption capability. DVDFab is good too, but both will decrypt some discs that the other won't.

[Sharc]

Not sure if the do the great Doom9 Forum a favor when debating too much on this subject, alternative solutions etc. :o

[James Freeman]

What about MakeMKV?
This one seems to be as much compatible as AnyDVD and DVDfab combined.
Based in Russia and constantly updated.

SlySoft claimed that DVDfab "took reference" from them that's why DVDfab is highly compatible.
I wonder if MakeMKV and DVDfab rely on SlySoft servers, we'll wait and see.

[Sparktank]

I would think it largely depends on user participation/submission.

The MakeMKV forums can get busy.
DVDFab seems to have its share of active user submissions.
But I doubt the both combined come close to the user activity that Slysoft forums had.

The only drawback to using MakeMKV is that you have to remux the entire movie to MKV. Which they have their reasons.
The GUI doesn't support feature sto split on chapters or select a range of video if you want just a sample.
Or just the audio.
I don't know if you can do that with the command line. I haven't really looked into using the command line much.
The devs of MakeMKV also want to limit extra features of using MakeMKV as it's main function is to decrypt and remux to matroska container.
I believe some features in the much older versions were dropped to more accurately reflect the name of the product, rather than trying to create a suite/AiO program.
It's much simpler this way for people who don't want to deal with MKVtoolnix and/or eac3to, etc.

I like DVDFab Passkey because of the possibilities for open remuxing. (like AnyDVD but DVDFab had that promo for lifetime pro (twice).)

My only concern for either remaining product would be lack of user contribution out of pure loyalty to a (now) defunct product.
Whether or not Slysoft comes back, with or without a bang, why not use the resources you are now limited to?

The validity behind the allegations of every other competitor stealing off Slysoft isn't my concern.
Whether or not it can be proven. So far I only read hearsay statements, regardless if it's Slysoft staff making the comments (as it seems to be sarcasm and baiting).
I don't want to get involved with any of that drama.
It's not like DVDfab and MakeMKV schemed together to try run Slysoft into the ground.
There's plenty of shows on Netflix to watch to get your jollies out of cynicism and scandals.

With regards to the new UHD-BD's, I'll only invest in buying them if I get a drive for the PC and then someone decides to work on the decryption.
Otherwise, I have no present interest with the present price tag for complete compatibility ($600 CAD for the player alone...).

[leon]

looks like some of the old members are willing to continue the development :

https://forum.slysoft.com/threads/no-fox-no-job-no-future.68331/

[James Freeman]

SlySoft no more, long live https://forum.redfox.bz/ !!!

[smegolas]

Whole thing is very dubious.

[stax76]

The only drawback to using MakeMKV is that you have to remux the entire movie to MKV.

You mean it cannot backup to a folder? I'm sure it can.

[Sparktank]

You mean it cannot backup to a folder? I'm sure it can.

Yes it can.

Let me rephrase: It sucks if you want just a 5 minute clip or a single chapter (or just the audio).

AnyDVD / Passkey allowed you to use MKVtoolnix to retrieve any such range you desired.

Up until DVDFab had two free lifetime pro giveaways, you don't know how many times I had to remux an entire movie just for one chapter.
Or just the audio stream.

The only time I use full folder backup now is if Passkey can't decrypt the disc.
Now I've got the entire disc to X-Men Days of Future Past Rogue Cut on my external from MakeMKV backup. When DVDFab is able to decrypt the Canadian disc, I can scrap the backup to free space.