Slysoft's AnyDVD HD ignores copy protection

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 20th February 2007

No HDCP? No problem.

Those of you familiar with DVD copying...err, authoring tools will no doubt be familiar with the company Slysoft. Its AnyDVD and CloneDVD tools are two of the most popular protection/preview stripping programs around. Well, with all of the HDCP Vista issues, you'll probably be happy to know that Slysoft is at it again - AnyDVD HD will strip the protection off of HD content, allowing it to play to non-HDCP monitors and TVs.

Currently, the technology works only for HD-DVD (Blu-Ray is not supported yet), but the implications are vast. The project basically nullifies the HDCP requirements that Microsoft was forced to put into Windows Vista, meaning that its usefulness as an HTPC is dramatically increased. On top of that, the program can decrypt the files for hard-drive storage.

Slysoft argues that piracy is of relatively little concern for the HD world. HD movies require 30Gb to transfer, which is a pretty massive download. In order to then burn the disc, a person would also need an HD-DVD drive and blank discs, which don't come cheap. Effectively, the cost of mass piracy far outweighs the cost of simply buying the discs legally, so the benefits of AnyDVD HD shouldn't cause a big dent in sales.

If you're interested, you can grab the program on Slysoft's website for $79.99, or upgrade your current AnyDVD license for $30.

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