UK developer quits DVD decrypting

The UK-based developer of DVD Decrypter, one of the most popular tools on the Internet for decrypting DVDs, has quit under duress from an unnamed company.

The famously elusive developer, who is known only by the name 'Lightning_UK', posted a resignation letter on the CD Freaks website saying that he had been forced to stop all development of the utility and hand over his own website, www.dvddecrypter.com.

On Monday www.dvddecrypter.com, which is ranked third on Google for searches on the term 'DVD' was inactive, showing only an "Error: Host Not Accessible" message.

"Ok so it has taken a while (almost 2 years), but eventually 'a certain company' has decided they don't like what I'm doing (circumventing their protection) and have come at me like a pack of wolves," wrote Lightning_UK on the CD Freaks site. "I've no choice but to cease everything to do with DVD Decrypter. I realise this is going to be one of those 'that sucks -- fight them!' kinda things, but at the end of the day, it's my life and I'm not about to throw it all away (before it has even really started) attempting to fight a battle I can't possibly win."

The developer went on to say: "If 321 Studios can't do it with millions, what chance do I have with £50?," he said, referring to the US company that in February 2004 was forced to stop producing its DVD copying products when a US judge ruled them illegal under US law.

"So anyway, from this point forward, I'm no longer permitted to provide any sort of assistance with anything that helps people infringe the rights of 'a certain company'," said the UK developer. He added the domain name will be transferred over to the 'company' by the end of the week.

Jan-Willem Aldershoff, owner of the CD Freaks site, said the UK developer was hard to track down at the best of times. "He is hardly traceable. He has hidden his identity very well for obvious reasons." Now, he said, all communication has ceased.

This episode is likely to be jumped on by the developer community as the latest instance of corporations threatening the work of developers and the rights of consumers. Norwegian developer Jon Lech Johansen became something of a cause celebre after being aquitted on charges related to alleged copyright violation after he created the DeCSS de-scrambling program.

Aldershoff said another group of developers had retreated to Antigua to produce their product, called AnyDVD.

"If he is offering software that decrypts the copy protection mechanisms on DVDs then he risks being found guilty of an offence even in this country," he said. The developer's liability would be under the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003, which implemented the European Copyright Directive.

"In the UK our current laws are similar to some provisions in the DMCA so if you are interfering with copy protection mechanisms then unless you can say you are doing it for purposes of research you run the risk of prosecution," said Robertson.