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CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components..

Key Features

• burn all kinds of discs
• audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks
• burn and create ISO files
• data verification after burning process
• create bootable discs
• multi-language interface
• bin/nrg → ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more!
• Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista/2008/Win7 (x86 / x64)

CDBurnerXP Pro 4.3.7.2356 Changelist

+ Files in the compilation are now sorted using the same method as WinXP (and later) uses, considering numeric file name parts
+ Now supports “Open with” command for ISO images
+ Support for NRA playlists
* More user friendly error messages when renaming files incorrectly
! Fixed: Do not warn about unreadable data near the end of the disc when grabbing (where unreadable data is to be expected)

+ New Feature, * Changed/Improved Feature, ! Fixed Bug, – Removed Feature (possibly because of because of many bugs)

Full List of Features, Compatible Drives List, Full Changelist
Download CDBurnerXP Pro 4.3.7.2356

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

Key Features

• burn all kinds of discs
• audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks
• burn and create ISO files
• data verification after burning process
• create bootable discs
• multi-language interface
• bin/nrg → ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more!
• Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

CDBurnerXP Pro 4.3.5.2256 Changelist

+ Disc spanning: Data compilations can now be spead on multiple discs
+ New option “-changefiledates” for the command line version
! Fixed: Incorrect error “There is not enough free space on the disc.” when burning audio discs
! Fixed: Audio pause length is twice as long as intended
! Fixed: Burn speed is disregarded when burning audio discs
! Fixed some progress bars not being displayed in the task bar (Win7)
! Adjusted incorrect “File” count in command line version
! Fixed: Command line -folder[\X]:\A -folder[\X]:\B does not work
! Fixed: Incorrect log message when extracting CD image to file

Full List of Features, Compatible Drives List, Full Changelist
Download CDBurnerXP Pro 4.3.5.2256

DVDStyler is a cross-platform free DVD authoring application for the creation of professional-looking DVDs. It allows not only burning of video files on DVD that can be played practically on any standalone DVD player, but also creation of individually designed DVD menus. It is Open Source Software and is completely free.

• added possibility to change subtitle options
• added support of VCD and half D1 resolutions
• added validation of custom actions
• some other small changes

Download DVDStyler 1.81

DVDStyler is a cross-platform free DVD authoring application for the creation of professional-looking DVDs. It allows not only burning of video files on DVD that can be played practically on any standalone DVD player, but also creation of individually designed DVD menus. It is Open Source Software and is completely free.

• Creation and burning DVD video with interactive menus
• Provides several templates for DVD menus v1.8.0
• Support of AVI, MOV, MP4, MPEG, OGG, WMV and other file formats
• Support of MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, Xvid, MP2, MP3, AC-3 and other audio and video formats
• Support of multi-core processor
• Allows using MPEG and VOB files without reencoding, see FAQ
• Allows put files with different audio/video format on one DVD (support of titleset)
• User-friendly interface with support of drag & drop
• Flexible menu creation on the basis of scalable vector graphic
• Import of image file for background
• Placing of buttons, text, images and other graphic objects anywhere on the menu screen
• Changing the font/color and other parameters of buttons and graphic object
• Scaling of buttons and graphic objects
• Coping of any menu object or whole menu
• DVD scripting

Download DVDStyler 1.80 Final

DVD copying software gets pulled

Software which claimed to be a legal way of copying DVDs has been withdrawn following legal action.

RealNetworks – the firm behind the software – has responded to restraining order issued by a US court stopped selling the RealDVD software.

Six major movie studios jointly sued the company on 30 September – the day the software was launched.

San Francisco District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel is due to review the case on 7 October.

Common ground

RealDVD is touted by RealNetworks as a legal way to turn a PC into a media server.

“It makes it easy to pause a program and resume right where you left off, makes it easy to find the movie you want and no more lost or scratched discs,” said Rob Glaser, chief executive of RealNetworks, on his firm’s blog.

Mr Glaser claims that a second layer of encryption is built into the software but the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) said RealDVD circumvents its rules about copying.

The RealDVD site was taken down on 3 October but a defiant message posted to it read: “Rest assured, we will continue to work diligently to provide you with software that allows you to make a legal copy of your DVDs for your own use.”

Mr Glaser expressed disappointment at the turn of events.

“As a company with a nearly 15 year track record of innovation that’s both great for consumers and fully respectful of intellectual property, we’re disappointed that the movie studios thought they had to file lawsuits,” he wrote in his blog.

“We began active discussions with the studios even before we announced RealDVD and up until last night were optimistic that we could find common ground with them without having to resort to the legal system,” he added.

The studios suing the firm are Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Disney and Warner Bros.

The MPAA is currently prohibited from commenting on the case.

RealNetworks is no stranger to controversy. In 2004 Apple accused it of “hacker tactics” when it claimed to have found a way for non-Apple endorsed music tracks to be played on an iPod.

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

Key Features

* burn all kinds of discs
* audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks
* burn and create ISO files
* data verification after burning process
* create bootable discs
* multi-language interface
* bin/nrg → ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more!
* Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

Download CDBurnerXP Pro 4.2.1

Full List of Features

CDBurnerXP Pro 4.2.1 Changelist:

Version Version 4.2.1.919 – 2008-08-23 22:54:26

* + Added Bahasa Melayu translation
* + Added eject option for burning audio discs
* + Localised installer
* * Command line version accepts drive letters as well
* * Removed ISO creating dialog (too complex appearance and not necessary)
* ! Corrected error handling for copying data discs a bit
* ! Fixed “remove” context menu item being disabled when multiple files are selected
* ! Hopefully fixed a rare EntryPointNotFoundException on Vista
* ! Fixed an InvalidOperationException in the disc info dialog
* ! Fixed a NullReferenceException when converting BIN to ISO
* ! Small file sizes were not displayed
* ! Disc-at-once burning is changed to track-at-once when burning a second audio disc
* ! Fixed (or rather, added a workaround) for VBR MP3 files
* ! Fixed burning OGG Vorbis files
* ! Fixed an ArgumentOutOfRangeException when trying to show invalid Win32 file dates (.NET bug)
* ! Fixed an ArgumentOutOfRangeException in the audio player
* ! Fixed IOExceptions caused by insufficient disk space

Full Changelist for all CDBurnerXP Pro versions

Compatible Drives List

Download CDBurnerXP Pro 4.2.1

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

Key Features
* burn all kinds of discs
* audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks
* burn and create ISO files
* data verification after burning process
* create bootable discs
* multi-language interface
* bin/nrg → ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more!
* Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

Download CDBurnerXP Pro 4.1.1.660

Full List of Features

CDBurnerXP Pro 4.0.015 Changelist:

Version 4.1.1.660 – 2008-06-21 16:31:15
* ! Fixed problem with X64 OSes

Version 4.1.1.659 – 2008-06-21 12:26:23
* + Option to remember last used project type
* + Command line version
* + LightScribe integration
* + Allow burning mixed mode discs
* + Audio player can play multiple tracks in a row
* + Support for ReplayGain
* + Added support for audio cue sheets
* + Added possibility to start CDBurnerXP with multiple files as parameters, to add them automatically to a new data compilation layout
* + Added picasa button plugin
* + Added possibility to expand playlist files for data discs
* + Added option to associate CDBXP with ISO files
* + Speed selection for disc copy
* + Added a new checkbox to associate .iso files with CDBurnerXP in the installer
* * Remember last setup dir
* * Accept single command line argument
* * Both vertical and horizontal tiling is done properly now
* * New dialog for adding audio files
* * Remember last used ISO path
* * New consistent icon set
* * New startup dialog, offering more options immediately
* * It’s now possible to get device information from read-only devices as well
* * File drops are no longer sorted when compiling an audio disc
* ! Fixed ArgumentException in Ripper
* ! Rewritten cover printing. Now centers covers correctly for letter size as well.
* ! Automatically converts to the correct sample rate
* ! Fixed nmsaccessu service descroption

Full Changelist for all CDBurnerXP Pro versions

Compatible Drives List

Download CDBurnerXP Pro 4.1.1.660

ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit!

It has several ‘Modes’, each one for performing a different task:

• Read – Read a disc to an image file
• Build – Create an image file from files on your computer or network – or you can write the files directly to a disc
• Write – Write an image file to a disc
• Verify – Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct
• Discovery – Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing

ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats – including BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI.

It supports Unicode folder/file names, so you shouldn’t run in to any problems if you’re using an international character set.

ImgBurn supports all the Windows OS’s – Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista and 2008 (including all the 64-bit versions). If you use Wine, it should also run on Linux and other x86-based Unixes.

It’s a very flexible application with several advanced features that are often lacking in other tools, especially when it comes to burning DVD Video discs. It supports all the latest drives without the need for updates (including booktype / bitsetting / advanced settings on many of the major ones – i.e. BenQ, LiteOn, LG, NEC, Plextor, Samsung, Sony).

There is an image queue system for when you’re burning several images (which you can automatically share between multiple drives if you have more than one) and an easy-to-use layer break selection screen for double layer DVD Video jobs. The Automatic Write Speed feature allows you store your favourite burn speed settings on a per ‘Media ID’ basis, right down to a drive by drive level. Data captured during the burn (write speed, buffer levels etc) can be displayed / analysed using DVDInfoPro.

Whilst ImgBurn is designed to work perfectly straight out of the box, advanced users will appreciate just how configurable it is.

Oh and let’s not forget the best thing about it…. it’s 100% FREE

• Added: Support for the TAO write type as a real option rather than just a fallback if SAO fails.
• Added: Support for burning APE/FLAC/WV files with an embedded CUE sheet as if they were normal image files.
• Added: Accurate audio duration calculation (via a dummy decode pass just before the burn) leading to less gaps/padding and no missing audio data.
• Added: Support for new booktype related options known as ‘Active Setting’ on NEC/Optiarc drives (to swap between the ‘Permanent’ and ‘Temporary’ setting)
• Added: The ability to have the open/save dialog boxes always default to the folder specified in the ‘File Locations’ tab within the Settings window. (otherwise it’ll default to the MRU one)
• Added: ‘New Project’ option to the File menu in Build mode.
• Added: When the program is unable to find any cells to use for the LB when buring a DL disc in Build mode, it now tells you extra info about which cell to split and where to do it.
• Added: Support for reading discs recorded using the TAO write type.
• Added: Context/popup/right click menu to the ‘Add file or folder to source list’ button in Build mode (the green +) with the option of ‘Clear Source MRU List’ on it.
• Added: Options to enable/disable the success/error sounds after certain program functions.
• Added: ‘Show Non-Present Devices’ option to the ‘Automatic Write Speed’ form when ‘View By’ is set to ‘Device’ (It’s enabled by default).
• Added: ‘Translated By’ field to the ‘About’ box.
• Added: The ability to define the start LBA when building an image – useful for custom disc layouts.
• Added: Variable ‘PreGap Snapping’ whereby gaps will snap to the nearest second (multiple of 75 frames) if within the specified range. (i.e. 1 second, 72 frames will snap to 2 seconds)
• Added: If you don’t enter a path for the file in Build/Read modes it’ll use the ‘Image Files’ default one configured in the Settings (File Locations tab).
• Added: You can type a relative path into Build/Read modes destination box and it’ll resolve it when you click Write/OK.
• Added: Saving a project file now writes the previously selected LB info from the ‘Create Layer Break’ window. This can then be used when loading the IBB via CLI so the user isn’t prompted to pick a LB, thus allowing for batch builds.
• Added: ‘Don’t Enable Sound’ checkbox to the ImgBurnPreview options.
• Added: A button in the settings to reset the burn statistics.
• Added: ‘Device.CDROM’ Shell extension option where you get ‘Read using ImgBurn’ as an option when you right click on any CD/DVDROM drive. (It’s off by default because windows appears to make it the default option – hence double clicking on the drive opens ImgBurn!)
• Added: Option to turn off the funny quotes on the Ez-Mode Picker screen. (For people without a sense of humour )
• Added: The ability to sort tracks in the order of the ‘Track Number’ field in any available file ‘Tag’ within the ‘Create CD CUE File’ window.
• Added: The ability to define a default folder for Project files (*.ibb).
• Added: The ability to define a default folder for Language files (*.lng).
• Added: Support for ‘WavePack’ files (*.wv) in the ‘Create CD CUE File’ window.
• Added: A failed read of a sector in read mode now maps that sector to a file name and the result is shown in the log.
• Added: Support for reading unicode file names in MDS v1.5+ files.
• Added/Changed: When running in ‘Portable’ mode, certain paths will be saved relative to the exe’s folder if they’re at the same level or below it. (i.e. ‘D:\ImgBurn\Sounds\Success.wav’ becomes ‘.\Sounds\Success.wav’)
• Added/Changed: When build mode detects you’re building DVD Video/HD DVD Video/Blu-ray Video/OS installation discs, it now tells you exactly which settings will be modified in the ‘conflicting settings detected’ message box.
• Changed: When saving an project file, the initial file name is now taken from the image file name (but with an ‘ibb’ extension), falling back to using the volume label, then MRU value and finally just ‘My Project.ibb’.
• Changed: Handling of manually entered file names in build/read mode to parse environment variables.
• Changed: Updated ImgBurnPreview.exe to the latest code – this one has support for audio.
• Changed: If the bootable image (in Build mode) isn’t a multiple of 512 bytes in size, the user can now choose to proceed anyway.
• Changed: Tweaked some of the TOC parsing code to work around bugs found in certain drives.
• Changed: Tweaked the UDF file system parsing code to minimise the amount of random access reads and potentially speed up the process by a substantial amount when lots of files are present.
• Changed: You can now build ‘pure’ bootable images/discs without having to add a ‘dummy’ file to the source box.
• Changed: The ‘Restore Defaults’ button in the settings now resizes itself to fit the string.
• Changed: The ‘Languages’ list is now sorted alphabetically.
• Changed: Limited the initial height of the ‘Create CD CUE File’ window to that of the desktop area (for people using 800×600 and below where it wouldn’t quite fit on the screen).
• Changed: Settings screen is now wider to better accommodate longer translated strings.
• Changed: The buttons on the ‘Filter Drivers’ screen now auto-resize themselves to fit the translated string.
• Changed: The ‘Create MDS’ windows now uses picture buttons for Add/Remove/Move etc just as the ‘Create CUE’ window does.
• Changed: All controls have been changed to the ‘TTnt*’ unicode style so you can use/view a properly translated GUI on a normal ‘English’ Windows install.
• Changed: The folder ‘IBB Files’ now defaults to using the name ‘Project Files’.
• Changed: The folder ‘IBG Files’ now defaults to using the name ‘Graph Data Files’.
• Changed: The folder ‘IBQ Files’ now defaults to using the name ‘Queue Files’.
• Changed: Moved some of the ‘select a folder’ type options in the settings to a new ‘File Locations’ tab.
• Changed: The ‘Start’ button in Read mode is no longer disabled when CSS/AACS protected media is detected. There’s just a warning that it won’t work (warning can be disabled in the settings).
• Changed: Date/Time pickers in Build mode now display the selected date/time according to the ‘Short Date’ format as found in Regional Settings within Control Panel.
• Changed: Log entries for ‘File System(s)’ no longer translate the ‘None’ word when there’s no file system present in the image. (The Log is supposed to be English)
• Changed: Removed the need for a second basic parsing of the file system on the disc when in Read mode (as the automatic destination file name was generated).
• Changed: Under Vista/2008, the Volume Label displayed by ImgBurn is taken from the ‘File Set Descriptor’ (when set) rather than the ‘Logical Volume Descriptor’ to match the behaviour of Windows.
• Changed: ‘DVD+R Reserve Track’ is now enabled by default.
• Changed: Removed the pre-read/verify ‘Samsung Set Magic Speed’ option. It was often slow to complete and not very well supported by some Samsung drives.
• Changed: Optimised the code that checks for interfering programs so they’re all done at the same time rather than individually.
• Changed: Updated the code that checks for interfering programs to look for newer versions of DVD43.
• Changed: Prompt user if auto retries of tray cycling still don’t make the drive initialise the disc properly between write and verify.
• Changed: Handling of the ‘Delete the image when done’ option when the image is a CUE file. The user can now delete the CUE without deleting the files it calls upon (if more than 1).
• Changed: The ‘Open/Save As’ file dialog boxes within the Log window now default to the ‘Log Files’ file location as specified in the settings.
• Changed: The ‘Open/Save As’ file dialog boxes for IBB, IBG, IBQ and LOG files now default to the appropriate folder – as specified in the settings.
• Changed: Some of the messages that can pop up when performing ‘Display IFO Layer Break Information’ on a drive so that they’re appropriate for a drive rather than an image file.
• Changed: Updated ImgBurnPreview to v1.1.1.0 – Based on Jeanl’s latest code.
• Changed: The log entry for ‘BookType’ now displays the permanent setting unless the ‘Active Setting’ is actually set to ‘Temporary’, in which case it displays the temporary one!
• Changed: Modified the names of the ‘Browse for…’ entries on the ‘File’ menu to make them less confusing.
• Changed: ‘Read Disc Information’ command reverted to asking for 32 bytes of data, not 34. (Some dodgy drivers appear to hang when it’s 34)
• Changed: Updated the installer to NSIS 2.36
• Changed/Fixed: Removed the double image file initialisation when trying to burn the currently selected file in Write mode when it wasn’t actually marked as ‘Queued’ in the Write queue (i.e. having already burnt it).
• Changed/Fixed: The ‘Automatic Change Book Type’ option for NEC drives now sets the ‘Active Setting’ to ‘Temporary’ so the correct value is actually used.
• Changed/Fixed: Tweaked some of the code that deals with expanding relative paths passed via CLI or stored within IBB project files.
• Changed/Fixed: Most of the forms are now dynamically created at runtime as and when need. This cuts down on the resources used by ImgBurn (especially GDI objects) and speeds up the loading time. (GDI object count is down from ~1100 to ~550)
• Changed/Fixed: CD-TEXT options/controls in the ‘Create CD CUE File’ window are now disabled when the selected track isn’t an audio track.
• Changed/Fixed: Silently fail (failure is still logged) when MCN control fails with the ‘ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED’ error code.
• Changed/Fixed: Potential workaround for drives that hang when being queried to see if they support labelflash.
• Changed/Fixed: Better ACM ‘acmStreamConvert’ handling so the program knows when all the data has been converted (even when buffered under Linux/Wine).
• Changed/Fixed: When verifying, if the track on the disc is smaller than the one in the image file the user is asked if they want to continue or not. If they choose to, the disc’s track is padded out (zero filled) to the size of the image file’s track so that the verification process works properly. (otherwise it would just sit there waiting for more data that was never coming)
• Changed/Fixed: Don’t add the current image file name to Write mode’s ‘Recent Files’ list when a ‘Read’ operation fails.
• Changed/Fixed: The ‘Delete image’ button on the ‘Insert next disc’ window didn’t prompt the user when deleting multiple files (like in a CUE with lots of audio tracks).
• Fixed: Incorrect handling of ‘desktop’ at the start of a destination image file path in Build/Read mode if it was followed by another folder name – i.e. ‘desktop\new image\image.iso’
• Fixed: The default paths (i.e. before any settings have been read) were incorrect when loading the program with the ‘/PORTABLE’ CLI switch.
• Fixed: When writing a multisession disc, the ‘Writing Session X of X’ and ‘Writing Track X of X’ log entries weren’t always being written if the session/track was small.
• Fixed: A bug when attempting to send a CUE Sheet to the drive ending in the error ‘SendCueSheet Bug! – CueSheetVariant 13′ being shown.
• Fixed: Wrong ‘REM LEAD-OUT’ entry in *.cue file when created using the ‘Create CD CUE File’ window.
• Fixed: Better support for old drives that want weird LeadIn/LeadOut ‘DataForm’ values (non MMC compliant values) in the ‘SEND CUE SHEET’ parameter list.
• Fixed: A bug preventing the ‘Logical Volume Identifier’ field in the ‘File Set Descriptor’ from being updated when changing the volume label of an image.
• Fixed: The Layer Break ‘Preview Selected Cell’ feature didn’t always work when working with Image Files/Drives – the preview window would take ages to appear and the ‘ImgBurnPreview.exe’ process would need terminating via Task Manager.
• Fixed: Problem with analysing track pregaps on drives that fell back to using the ‘Read Sub-Channel’ command when ‘Read CD’ failed.
• Fixed: Various problems when using the legendary ‘old skool’ Plextor SCSI CD-ROM drives.
• Fixed: When SAO wasn’t available and the program fell back to using TAO, multi track images weren’t burnt correctly. (They came out as 1 long track because I’d made no effort to make it work properly!)
• Fixed: The ‘Add file or folder to source list’ button in Build mode was being enabled after ‘Calculate’ even when there was no text in the field to it’s left.
• Fixed: Access violation when you’re in Build mode with Device output and you press ‘Cancel’ on any of the prompts that come up before the build actually starts.
• Fixed: A problem where ImgBurn could get stuck at the start of a read/verify operation.
• Fixed: When reading a disc using only ISO9660/Joliet file systems (no UDF) from DVD+RW/DVD-RAM/BD-RE the image would be 1 sector too short.
• Fixed: Divide By Zero bug if you terminate a verify operation whilst it’s still analysing the tracks on a CD.
• Fixed: Memory leak if you cancel the ‘Open’ file dialog box from within the Log window.
• Fixed: A problem where a file name such as ‘desktop\image’ in the Read mode destination box was not being parsed correctly to have ‘desktop’ replaced AND the ‘.iso’ file extension added.
• Fixed: The ‘ACM’ audio decoding fallback method wasn’t working – acmStreamConvert failed.
• Fixed: CD-TEXT info at ‘Disc’ level wasn’t always added to the CUE file made by the ‘Create CD CUE File’ feature.
• Fixed: When warned that ‘Test Mode’ *might* not work with the current media (and the user accepted the warning), it was actually being turned off rather than being left on.
• Fixed: The ‘Changer Control’ buttons were sometimes being disabled when they shouldn’t have been.
• Fixed: ‘Retrying (x of y)…’ was wrong in the log when close track/session/disc failed at the end of the burn. x was always 1 number too big.
• Fixed: No image being added to the combobox on the medium changer control window when running under Vista.
• Fixed: The ‘Medium Changer Control’ feature didn’t work properly on Vista/2008.
• Fixed: Incorrect file name sorting in the ISO9660 file system – files starting with ‘_’ came before the others using ‘A-Z’. (This prevented WinXP install discs from working)
• Fixed: Memory leak when loading a CUE containing multiple index points for the same track.
• Fixed: Read modes ‘Default Destination – MRU’ option wasn’t working.

Download ImgBurn 2.4.1.0

Anyone surprised about this at all? Measure, counter-measure, new measure, new counter-measure, etc,. There is a lot of money spent in what may never be obtainable and plenty of nuisance for consumers who simply want to back up their movies. In the 80s I used to purchase a new album, purchase a blank tape, play the album once and back it to tape then only play the tape until it wore out, broke, got lost, or… got melted on (or to) the car’s dashboard. Then a second playing of the pristine condition album was performed to make another backup for use while the original was safely tucked away.

If you are a parent of a child or teen that you have graciously allowed to have a DVD player in their room you may wish to allow said child or teen to play one of your well cared-for DVDs only to see it returned in a condition much reminiscent of something that was dragged down a dusty rocky road in the old West. A backup would come in handy in this situation. Your DVD player could one day break down and spin your DVD in a strange way that makes it unplayable. The door could accidentally close on your DVD. Of course those that make money on you buying the DVD in the first place want you to buy the same movie over and over and over.

/rant over : )

The press release basically had Slysoft thumbing its nose at Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group, who wrote in July 2007 that: “BD+, unlike AACS which suffered a partial hack last year, won’t likely be breached for 10 years.”

Couldn’t the BD+ protection scheme be tightened up with new encryption keys? That might be so, but van Heuen is not worried. He told Ars that “cracking updates will take significantly less time than the basic work we did the last 3 months (which was figuring out how BD+ works, since it is not documented in public).”

If you were holding back on buying Blue-ray titles due to worries that you wouldn’t be able to make your own backups, I suppose your concerns are no longer valid.

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