Legal suggestion

[d3photoguy]

They were sent out several days ago, check your junkmail folder. This really is beyond their control. It has been mentioned in many blogs and techie sites and in the News section at MyCE as well. Sorry you missed it.

Signals - thanks for your response. However it was not in any junk folder so apparently I did not receive a copy. Perhaps others have not as well. Also I'd like to suggest that what has happened needs to at least show up in a google search of dvdfab. Don't just rely on niche blogs or tech sites. The issue is much larger than that. Both current as well as especially prospective customers, many of whom do not know about tech sites, need to be able to read about it and also find the new site.

[BERT]

One would think DVD Fab has grown to big now to be stopped by the USA.Their products are being sold just about worldwide to countries who give a hoo or don't take the copy law as serious as the USA does.USA can stop them in their country but should find it difficult to stop them in others.As a matter of fact...they should keep their damn nose out of it. No surprise here as David Letterman said......The whole world hates us.........

[walkerx]

When I buy a DVD/BD disk I always rip it so I can watch on different devices. I don't provide copies of these rips to anyone.

But like with many and what has been going on since media was first released I lend the original to my friends/family to watch.

[Chetwood]

Obviously because the US's reach DOES in fact extend beyond their borders. Do you really think Paypal, Mastercard and Co. chose to not do business with "rogue sites" because of moral concerns? No, they did so because of the proper incentives from the US government via ICE puting the screws on, just remember what happened with Megaupload presumably located outside of US jurisdiction or Dajaz1.com.

[GregiBoy]

To be honest, why should DVD Fab even worry about court orders & challenges in the US when they are not based in that jurisdiction?

I'm actually glad to see them shift their domains, etc!!!!

[Chetwood]

An interesting thread. Many avenues of legal challenges to the ruling I am sure are being explored.

A little late, don't you think? It was a horrible mistake from DVDFab to ignore the initial court order which is why the judge simply issued a default judgement and gave the AACS everything they asked for. It will be more difficult to get out of this now especially as other companies also caved in and withdraw their rippers.

[signals]

They were sent out several days ago, check your junkmail folder. This really is beyond their control. It has been mentioned in many blogs and techie sites and in the News section at MyCE as well. Sorry you missed it.

[d3photoguy]

Fair Use of 3D impossible. (As is finding this site).

This is totally absurd. I can only display 3D content by splitting the left and right views into 2 files using DVDFab. I have a 2 projector system that runs off a computer. I do not own a 3D TV or 3D Blu-ray player. The BD must be decrypted in order to separate the two views. So by outlawing the ability to decrypt a blu-ray disk, the court and AACS essentially prevents me from using any 3D BD that I have purchased.

It's amazing there is so little on the net about this whole mess. It took me having to track down the IP address of the dvdfab site (which I did when everyone's name server refused to resolve the .COM site) in order to learn that it had been ported to dvdfab.cn. I imagine there must be a lot of customers who are shaking their heads in confusion.

The notice at the top of each forum sure doesn't do anyone any good - if you can read the notice, you already know the site is under a new domain extension. If not, it looks like the company is gone. That was my first reaction. Fengtao really needs to get their email notices out to current customers ASAP.

[mdgboxx]

DvdFab Lifetime

No, it's not. Cause rightfully so, China does not give a damn about US laws. And this ruling will be overturned cause it's ridiculously broad. Why the HECK should the industry get to say who Mastercard or Paypayl can do business with?

Am I to understand that I should not lose any sleep over this?

I did, however, think it ridiculous that Pay-Pal and other banking institutions would be accomplice to this.

My Bitdefender Total does not block my DvdFab, but it does signal it as "Untrusted" (Orange tag)

[Jumpin Jack]

Looks Like No More Plastic!

Hell, there is more factual information about this whole mess on the Torrent Freak News site than anywhere else. Go Here or read, below:

http://torrentfreak.com/companies-withdraw-blu-ray-rippers-following-dvdfab-lawsuit-140314/

3/13/2014 U.S. Court Orders Seizure of "DVD Ripping" Software Domains and Funds | TorrentFreak
U.S. COURT ORDERS SEIZURE OF “DVD
RIPPING” SOFTWARE DOMAINS AND FUNDS
BY ERNESTO ON MARCH 10, 2014 C: 287
A New York federal court has granted the seizure of several domain names, bank
funds and social media accounts belonging to DVD ripping software company
DVDFab. Judge Broderick ruled in favor of AACS, the licensing outfit founder by
Warner Bros, Disney, Microsoft, Intel and others.
AACS, the decryption licensing outfit founded by a group of
movie studios and technology partners including Warner Bros,
Disney, Microsoft and Intel, has launched a crackdown on DRM-
circumvention software.
In an effort to limit the availability of so-called DVD ripping
software, AACS has sued the company behind the popular DVD
ripping software DVDFab.
Under U.S. law it’s forbidden to distribute software with the
primary intention of circumventing copyright protection. In its complaint, AACS accuses the
“DVDFab Group” of violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention clause by selling tools that can
bypass their DVD encryption.
“The DVDFab Group openly touts these illegal circumvention attributes of the DVDFab Software
on the DVDFab Websites, advertising that, among other things, its software products ‘remove all
Blu-ray copy protections,’ and ‘can remove … all known AACS copy protections’,” AACS writes in
its complaint.
To stop the Chinese-based DVDFab from distributing its software in public, AACS moved for a
preliminary injunction. After DVDFab failed to respond in court the request was granted by New
York Federal Judge Vernon Broderick. TF has obtained a copy of the order.
http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-court-or...-funds-140310/ 1/4

[eisenb11]

My arguement is because they own the encryption software & the keys doesn't give them the legal authority to license breaking the law . Since their software in the firmware has keys that allow "circumvention of encryption measures".To me this equals decryption but maybe there is a difference.

Ah, I see where you're getting at. The key is that AACS is not "circumventing" the encryption by decrypting the media because they own the IP and have a legal right to authorize licensing. A licensed body is merely "decrypting" the media, albeit not "illegally".

The key term is "circumvention". Any entity licensed by AACS isn't circumventing, however anyone not licenses, even if they're using valid keys, would be considered as circumventing the protection measures.

So a BD player, which is licensed, is decrypting without circumvention which is ok. DVDFab is decrypting with circumvention which is "bad".

I think the bigger issue is that the DMCA has no Fair Use provisions. If you legally purchased a disc, you should be allowed to circumvent the security measures to make a backup so long as that backup is for your use only and you only maintain the backup for as long as you physically own the disc. That, at least, should be legal... but sadly it is not under current provisions.

DVDFab is great for backing up and duplicating home movies because they're not encrypted, but most people probably want to use the program to back up more than that.

[cholla]

@ eisenb11 , I understand that " consumer dvd and BD players, but those are ok because they are licensed to decrypt by AACS. As such, they're not illegally circumventing any measures (they have a license)".
That is the AACS position on this.
My arguement is because they own the encryption software & the keys doesn't give them the legal authority to license breaking the law . Since their software in the firmware has keys that allow "circumvention of encryption measures".
To me this equals decryption but maybe there is a difference.

I also understand that the AACS may have an exemption somewhere in the law.
In US law the individual should always have the greater rights than any organization .

Apparently the US courts allowed the WIPO to become part of the DMCA.
I personally am agains the US incorporating any international laws into US law.
If we need a similar law then our Congress is supposed to create it then vote on it .

[ゲゲゲの鬼太郎]

I think part of the problem here is now many of the companies have banded together to provide Backup solutions which do not require one to copy, rip or otherwise any Disk they may purchase.

These Solutions I'm speaking of are

But the problem with Ultra Violet is the films are kept in the cloud and anything you download to your system is Proprietary.

But still, the courts would argue that there is no need for backup software (I highly disagree) because of the existing solutions implemented by said companies plus the fact the the availability of backup software encourages the theft of intellectual property.

In other words, they'll do and say anything to get their way in the matter.


But another big problem with the solution these companies are trying to shove down everyone's throats is that here in the United States, telephone companies such as Verizon are refusing to repair and or upgrade copper line systems. Because they have been arguing that the systems are out dated and they are trying to move people away from land lines and DSL, entirely to cell phones and other internet services such as FIOS, Cable and satellite. One of the reasons they are trying to do this is little by little they are trying to move away from unlimited data and replace this with Data caps such as we currently have with cell phones.

So just imagine what would happen to your data caps if the MPAA were to win out and everyone had to rely on their solutions. you'd be paying through the nose to download your movie backups.

This is why Net Neutrality is so important and Verizon has been trying to break that with what they are currently pulling.

[cholla]

There is a lot at stake with this ruling against DVDFab. If the U.S. Court system is victorious, there are numerous other companies with similar software. There is at least one very big software maker that is a direct competitor of DVDFab. I am sure that the U.S. Court/movie industry will go after the others if this ruling stands.

To make a legal point . The U.S. Court system is not a party in the injunction.
This action is brought by the plaintiff: AACS LA (Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator). This US court (United States District Court Southern District of New York) doesn't go after anyone on their own .

[eisenb11]

I'm not a lawyer (got a pre-law degree then moved onto computers) but the issue isn't decryption. It's circumvention of encryption measures. Fair use is fully legal however the DMCA was later created which makes circumvention measures illegal.

So while you have a right to backup your media under Fair Use, you can't circumvent the encryption in the process. Basically, the DMCA almost takes away your right to backup your media. I say "almost" because if some software existed that could make a 100% exact copy of the disc (encryption and all) without first decrypting the disc, it's usage under fair use would be ok.

You mention consumer dvd and BD players, but those are ok because they are licensed to decrypt by AACS. As such, they're not illegally circumventing any measures (they have a license) so they are not in violation of the DMCA.

The main problems at hand are that the DMCA is overly broad and has no Fair Use provisions. Things can get worse if measures like SOPA eventually get implemented because they're much more restrictive than what we currently have.

Also at issue is the ability for the US to exert influence over foreign companies through their control of Internet infrastructure (ICANN, etc).

I really have no idea what dvdfab can do. They can keep the site up by staying away from ICANN controlled domains but no idea how they can keep their payment system going.

It's an interesting predicament... Hope they have really good lawyers and/or really creative technical people.

To make it clear I support the "free use" decision by the US Supreme Court.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was & is an attempt to circumvent the courts "fair use" ruling . The US Supreme Court should rule that the DMCA is unconstitutional & had no right to be passed because it go against the courts decision by making it impossible to make a backup copy under the fair use ruling.
The problem is the new law has to be contested in a case before such a ruling can be made. This is what DVDFab now has the opportunity to do.



That's true . The AACS LA (Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator) can license a manufacturer od DVD/BD player to use the keys to decrypt DVD/BD discs.
A manufacturer can manufacture & sell the DVD/BD players .
All that is legal.
Here's where they have a legal problem under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA):
Once a consumer plays a DVD/BD disc & that disc is decrypted.
They have no authority to bypass the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) with a license . The AACS LA (Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator) owns the rights to the software & that makes them the criminal .
The consumer doesn't own the software in the firmware that does the decryption.
This relieves the consumer of any criminal liability .
The simple arguement is if a consumer reverse enginered the firmware to get the software & then started manufacturing DVD/BD players without purchasing a liscense from the AACS LA they would be quickly sued.
So IMO the AACS LA should have a ruling against them for violating the DMCA.
With the DVD/BD players they have licensed they have violated the DMCA millions more times than DVDFab may have.
To mt DVDFab should be legal because it allows US citizens to be able to apply the fair use rights they have.
I know other countries have laws about this but my knowlege is mostly about US law. Members from other countries can post about their laws.