Wait, shouldn't stuff like this be illegal? Or is it some kind of grey area?

I think they did a good job, but it probably won't be up for long.

I'll wait for the torrent. I'm not going to pay for a crack software. 😀

xIcarus:

Wait, shouldn't stuff like this be illegal? Or is it some kind of grey area?

I don't think so; this shouldn't be any more illegal than DVD decryption or torrenting. The existence and development of the tool isn't illegal either, just where and how customers use it, much like a gun. To my understanding, in most countries you're legally allowed to own this software, but once you use it to remove the copy protection of a Hollywood movie for example, you are now doing something illegal. It's interesting how laws and ToS documents work when it comes to software. For example, you are legally allowed to buy install Mac OS on any PC you want, but, you are not allowed to sell a non-Apple PC with Mac pre-installed on it.

That's great, but there aren't even many drives that can read these discs yet. I bought AnyDVD since I have a very large movie collection and it's been well worth the money, but they have said they have no interest in working on UHD discs yet.

xIcarus:

Wait, shouldn't stuff like this be illegal? Or is it some kind of grey area?

It is not illegal to rip and back-up disks which you've bought. Illegal is to share rips with others. As to the cracked AACS2.0, it amazes me how long will it take companies to understand that people do not want to got to stores and buy plastic disks for $30 which can be scratched making them mere plastic trash. They have to make movies available for a download in full quality for a price. People WILL download them either for free via torrents or for a price if available like games in Steam. Movie collectors who like to see them lined-up on a shelf will buy Blu-rays, but they will still want to have a back-up copy coz anything can happen to a physical one.

Oversemper:

It is not illegal to rip and back-up disks which you've bought. Illegal is to share rips with others.

Close, but I don't think it's quite that simple. You're legally allowed to rip movies for your own use if you have licensed software to do so. To my understanding, what this company did was brute force, and not licensed, and therefore the usage of it is illegal. But like I said before, merely owning the software isn't illegal.

As to the cracked AACS2.0, it amazes me how long will it take companies to understand that people do not want to got to stores and buy plastic disks for $30 which can be scratched making them mere plastic trash. They have to make movies available for a download in full quality for a price. People WILL download them either for free via torrents or for a price if available like games in Steam. Movie collectors who like to see them lined-up on a shelf will buy Blu-rays, but they will still want to have a back-up copy coz anything can happen to a physical one.

I agree. I also know many people who will buy a movie but also pirate it because they not only get a virtual copy but the virtual copy doesn't have any of the ads, FBI warnings, and other ironic anti-piracy stuff. http://static.damnlol.com/media/dd30cab9b711a8e46f26e95b3c919573.jpg

Oversemper:

It is not illegal to rip and back-up disks which you've bought. Illegal is to share rips with others. As to the cracked AACS2.0, it amazes me how long will it take companies to understand that people do not want to got to stores and buy plastic disks for $30 which can be scratched making them mere plastic trash. They have to make movies available for a download in full quality for a price. People WILL download them either for free via torrents or for a price if available like games in Steam. Movie collectors who like to see them lined-up on a shelf will buy Blu-rays, but they will still want to have a back-up copy coz anything can happen to a physical one.

I actually prefer to own the discs and keep as backup in case anything happens to my network drives. It took forever to rip everything, but I can stream my movies wherever I want and they aren't tied to some horrible software like iTunes. Download only is a terrible idea because you know damn well that the studios will still charge you $30 for it. I can go to the store and get the blu-ray, dvd, and digital download bundle for that price or less.

LOL @ $233 a license.