Ripping forums at Digital Video Forums shut down

[LarryEvilsizer]

All forums related to DVD ripping at Digital Video Forums (http://forum.digital-digest.com/index.php) have been discontinued. While the admin there is not saying much, it appears to be due to pressure from the movie-making industry.

Don't know for sure, but my quess is that VideoHelp will soon, if not already, be targeted as well. You might want to bookmark your favorite ripper's website.

Larry

[MOVIEGEEK]

That sucks,you might want to burn ripping tools to disc before they all disappear.

[Marvingj]

THat sucks for sure!!!!

[jman98]

That sucks,you might want to burn ripping tools to disc before they all disappear.

That is unlikely to happen as certain countries are certainly not RIAA-friendly and have no fear of RIAA lawsuits. The software is likely to remain available somewhere but harder to find.

This is like locking the barn after the horse has run off and hoping nobody is smart enough to look inside to see if the horse is still there. "Nothing to see here. All our horses are locked up. Yes, sir. Take our word for it."

[dvd3500]

doom9 loves us

[Seeker47]

That sucks,you might want to burn ripping tools to disc before they all disappear.

That is unlikely to happen as certain countries are certainly not RIAA-friendly and have no fear of RIAA lawsuits. The software is likely to remain available somewhere but harder to find.

You may be thinking of a site like Doom9 that has mirrors. I can recall (a couple years back) finding some items on their mirror site in Turkey that had been pulled widely elsewhere. But mirrored pages are usually closely based on the main originals -- whether translated or not -- so I don't think you can really count on this.

I'll tell you something else: after the Tools get removed, they next go after the Guides. But, remember what happened in the case of AfterDawn ? A whole bunch of tools got "disappeared" (political analogy from S. America), then a whole bunch of related Guides did likewise, BUT THEN several people repackaged these as big Zip archives and re-distributed them all over the place. A nice big YO' MAMA ! right in the face of the powers-that-be !

Every day, and sometimes several times a day, you would see fresh links popping up, pointing to places where you could pick up those archives of deleted items . . . replacing other (short-lived) links as they got killed. It was a beautiful thing to watch. And THAT, folks, is defiance ! I hope it irked said powers-that-be to the max.

When the time comes, I hope that some of you reading this will do the same. (If we get to that point, please put those guides into .PDF, with all the pics etc., as that's the best way to go.)

[somebodeez]

From the DD Admin:


http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=81162

Some of you may have noticed that the DVD ripping forums have now all been closed.

They have been closed to ensure the future survival of Digital Digest. I've been working on the website for 8 years, and I would like to work on it for 8 more, and this is the best way to ensure this possibility. We will now concentrate on the other aspects of digital video and look towards new directions. As such, a new rule will be added to prevent further discussions related to decryption (DVD and other types).

This follows the removal of related content on our main website a couple of weeks ago.

As usual, I will not go into more details about this and I appreciate that you do not speculate further on this forum as to what is going on. I acknowledge that many people will not be satisfied with this decision and that they will move to other forums, and that is fully understandable, no hard feelings. My only request is that if you wish to vent some bile, please do so on other forums, and not here - we have enough grieve at the moment already. For those that are leaving, I would like to thank you now for all your contributions. For those that are staying, thank you as well and let's all look towards the future.

They added a new rule:

# Discussions regarding decryption/ripping of DVDs or other types of media is prohibited, as is the discussion of tools that can be used for decryption/ripping (eg. DVD Shrink, FixVTS ...)

[Rich86]

At the time that the democratic congress and democratic president in the USA signed the DMCA into law, I wonder if they realized they were opening the door to widespread electronic storm troopers marching around the USA (and any other countries they duped into passing similar laws) stomping all over free speech rights of people everywhere. The DMCA has become the excuse any large company with money and lawyers can use to threaten and intimidate people wherever just because a lawsuit can be filed based on most anything and most individuals do not have the resources to expend to fight a gaggle of lawyers from a large corporation.

And now we have people threatening lawsuits because they say a string of numbers is copyrighted? Ridiculous. Needless to say, that string of numbers will be all over the world in short order in emails, blogs, signatures, etc. I look forward to seeing the first t-shirts with that number on it.

I'd like to know who the companies are behind all this so we can avoid their products and services. These companies brand names should become "4-letter words" . .

[tekkieman]

I look forward to seeing the first t-shirts with that number on it.

T-shirt

[edDV]

At the time that the democratic congress and democratic president in the USA signed the DMCA into law, I wonder if they realized they were opening the door to widespread electronic storm troopers marching around the USA (and any other countries they duped into passing similar laws) stomping all over free speech rights of people everywhere. The DMCA has become the excuse any large company with money and lawyers can use to threaten and intimidate people wherever just because a lawsuit can be filed based on most anything and most individuals do not have the resources to expend to fight a gaggle of lawyers from a large corporation.

And now we have people threatening lawsuits because they say a string of numbers is copyrighted? Ridiculous. Needless to say, that string of numbers will be all over the world in short order in emails, blogs, signatures, etc. I look forward to seeing the first t-shirts with that number on it.

I'd like to know who the companies are behind all this so we can avoid their products and services. These companies brand names should become "4-letter words" . .

Although led by "Hollywood" Democrat interests there has been (R) support as well from Sensenbrenner (former Chm House Judiciary Committee) to McCain (Sen Telecommunications Committe) to probably the Arnold (Gov CA). The CA Dems are at the center and the "Usual Suspects" film companies are the lobbyists.

[dphirschler]

Holy shit this sucks! They're silencing us! That's so unAmerican!


Darryl

[painkiller]

Don't forget Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah) who made it clear that he believes copyright infringers should be thrown to the wolves.

We'd get no sympathy from him (or such others).

[edDV]

Don't forget Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah) who made it clear that he believes copyright infringers should be thrown to the wolves.

We'd get no sympathy from him (or such others).

Do you have a reference for that quote? I don't recall Hatch being in the middle of this.

The problem is this is a hot issue for "Hollywood" and the software companies. Unfortunately the issues of private use and overseas pirating have been confused.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA

[RLT69]

Do you have a reference for that quote? I don't recall Hatch being in the middle of this.

You're kidding right.

From a Wired Article back in 2003:

"Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) suggested Tuesday that people who download copyright materials from the Internet should have their computers automatically destroyed."

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2003/06/59305

Or from his own web site:

"Washington – Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 to allow creative artists to sue corporations that profit by encouraging children, teenagers and others to commit illegal or criminal acts of copyright infringement."

http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Print&PressRelease_id=1083&...sslayouts=true

He's hip deep into this.

[Jim44]

Do you have a reference for that quote? I don't recall Hatch being in the middle of this.

Dunno if it's an exact quote, but Hatch has damn-well been in the middle, seeing as he co-authored the DMCA and co-sponsored the Inducing of Copyright Infringement Act of 2004 (aka the "Induce Act").

He's in it up to *here*

Jim
[Edit: too slow, but I've a more recent Wired article link :
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2004/06/63969 ]

[edDV]

Do you have a reference for that quote? I don't recall Hatch being in the middle of this.

You're kidding right.

From a Wired Article back in 2003:

"Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) suggested Tuesday that people who download copyright materials from the Internet should have their computers automatically destroyed."

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2003/06/59305

Or from his own web site:

"Washington – Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 to allow creative artists to sue corporations that profit by encouraging children, teenagers and others to commit illegal or criminal acts of copyright infringement."

http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Print&PressRelease_id=1083&...sslayouts=true

He's hip deep into this.

First quote was a characterisation by Wired.
Maybe as a side show but did you see this?

"Mr. President, I rise with my esteemed colleague and friend, Senator Leahy, ranking Democrat Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to introduce the “Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004.”

This is targeting organizations encouraging minors to violate the law that was already passed.

My point is that the "Hollywood" led little guy "private use" issues are DEM led and the E Asia pirating issues are bi-partisan. The EU Copyright Directive or EUCD puts Europe in the same camp.

[edDV]

Do you have a reference for that quote? I don't recall Hatch being in the middle of this.

Dunno if it's an exact quote, but Hatch has damn-well been in the middle, seeing as he co-authored the DMCA and co-sponsored the Inducing of Copyright Infringement Act of 2004 (aka the "Induce Act").

He's in it up to *here*

Jim
[Edit: too slow, but I've a more recent Wired article link :
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2004/06/63969]

Your link didn't go through but remember at the time Sen Hatch was known as the Senator of SCO-Caldera, a Utah UNIX company and no-doubt contributor. He wasn't focused on restricting HD/BD DVD rights. He was in the middle of a UNIX controversy.

[somebodeez]

I look forward to seeing the first t-shirts with that number on it.

T-shirt

I wonder if that is available in other colors? 8)

[edDV]

My main point is both parties are vulerable on this and the Dems are the lead. Reps focus on trade. Dems focus on restricting the Sony decision private use rights.

[Jim44]

Your link didn't go through

Sorry, closing bracket was (mistakenly) part of the URL. Fixed now.

but remember at the time Sen Hatch was known as the Senator of SCO-Caldera,

Now *there's* a company one wants to be associated with :P

Certainly there's plenty of "blame" to go around, but Hatch has been at the forefront of this from the beginning.

Jim

[edDV]

Your link didn't go through

Sorry, closing bracket was (mistakenly) part of the URL. Fixed now.

but remember at the time Sen Hatch was known as the Senator of SCO-Caldera,

Now *there's* a company one wants to be associated with :P

Certainly there's plenty of "blame" to go around, but Hatch has been at the forefront of this from the beginning.

Jim

The point is consumer rights (i.e. Sony decision) should be separated from trade policy. "Hollywood" is on the wrong side.

[dnix71]

Maybe an forum admin (like Baldrick) here could post the how-to stickies in a compressed text format for download somewhere, and the ripping tools in a separate zip file. If I used a browser site-sucker to grab the stickies it might look impolite to a server admin.

[Marvingj]

Its a matter of time before they pressure Videohelp.com Forum.....

[painkiller]

My only point in bringing up Senator Hatch's position is that he is now Chairman of the Senate Intellectual Property subcommittee. He was named to that position back in March of 2005.

Copyright issues are dealt with on that committee.

Granted, at the timeframe that I reference his comments - Hatch was largely embroiled with the peer to peer software and music industry. (See links/references below.)

But his current position (I assume he's still chairman) gives him wide berth over anything falling under the copyright laws.

And his statements concerning how he felt about infringers are well known, and found within these links.


-------------------

http://www.slyck.com/story707.html

...
Hatch met with leading technology firms to discuss methods that would allow copyright holders to legally attack and destroy computers of alleged file-traders. Randy Saaf of MediaDefender responded by saying, “No One is interested in destroying anyone’s computer.”

No one but Orrin Hatch, that is.

"I'm interested," Hatch interrupted. He said damaging someone's computer "may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights." The senator, a composer who earned $18,000 last year in song writing royalties, acknowledged Congress would have to enact an exemption for copyright owners from liability for damaging computers. He endorsed technology that would twice warn a computer user about illegal online behavior, "then destroy their computer." "If we can find some way to do this without destroying their machines, we'd be interested in hearing about that," Hatch said. "If that's the only way, then I'm all for destroying their machines. If you have a few hundred thousand of those, I think people would realize" the seriousness of their actions, he said.

"There's no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws," Hatch said.

Hatch’s attempt to destroy computers sharing files was subsequently never heard from again, and any reference to his statements has strangely disappeared from his home page. Never-the-less, Hatch continued to take on file-sharing. It would come in the form of the much dreaded Inducing of Copyright Infringement Act of 2004, or “Induce Act.”
...



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2999780.stm

...
Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican representing Utah, asked technology chiefs at a hearing in Washington about whether they could develop ways to damage or destroy the computers.
...



http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5623975.html

...
Orrin Hatch, the senator who once said the recording industry should be able to destroy music pirates' PCs, will be in charge of a new Senate panel responsible for writing copyright laws.

Hatch, a Utah Republican, on Thursday [Ed: March 17,2005 article published] was formally named chairman of the Senate Intellectual Property subcommittee. It's responsible for overseeing the U.S. Copyright Office and drafting legislation and treaties relating to copyright and patent laws.
...

[ozymango]

I personally am enjoying the various commentary here, but we do seem to be skating a bit close to the subject of politics. Also there's a lot of hearsay, and being the digital-digest webmaster declined -- pointedly -- further elaboration of his reasons behind his actions, I think we might all be best served by following his lead?

EDIT: I have a vision ... of ... a lock ...

[MOVIEGEEK]

Yeah Sen.Hatch(R-Utah) and Rep.Berman(D-CA) are always on the forefront of restricting fairuse,there was a thread on VH about INDUCE but I can't find it.

[Soopafresh]

edDV - Dems have been in the majority since mid-January 2007. That's all it took?

[painkiller]

I am simply pointing out that these two issues are intertwined, related.

I am not pointing fingers, just attempting to broaden the picture to its complete size.

Because of the secrecy of the closed sites, all we can do is speculate about them.

So on that note, just how high up does this effort extend?

Just asking.

[SCDVD]

I personally am enjoying the various commentary here, but we do seem to be skating a bit close to the subject of politics.

We are discussing a problem with DRM gone crazy. It seems to me that mention of how this came about in the first place is very relevant. While this isn't a political forum, a discussion of this issue would be very incomplete without the genesis of it.

[Soopafresh]

I think it is less political than you might believe. When they figured out how to bypass the multi-million $ protection on HD-DVD and BluRAY, that was the last straw. The studios resorted to the cruder "Plan B" - restrict the information. That's like emptying the oceans with a teaspoon.