Big stores Applications with tips for copying protected DVDs.
Despite laws making it illegal to circumvent antipiracy technology on DVD movies, programs with tools and instructions for doing just that remain widely available at major retailers such as Best Buy, CompUSA, and Target.
Out of the box, Bling Software’s 123 Copy DVD and Me Too Software’s ICopyDVDs2 Standard, each $30, don’t allow you to duplicate copy-protected DVDs. But both products provide instructions on how to obtain free adds-ons to bypass copy restrictions.
In 2004, a judge banned 321 Studios DVD X Copy, which could create duplicates of commercial DVD movies, saying it violated the federal Digital Millenium Copyright Act’s ban on information or tools to bypass copy-control technology (including the Contents Scramble System that is used in DVD media).
Non-U.S. Only?
When you try to copy a protected DVD using ICopy DVDs2 or 123 Copy DVD, you get a message warning that doing so is illegal in the United states. But ICopyDVDs2 then explains how non-U.S. users can find and download an add-on for copying CSS-protected DVDs. Similarly, 123 Copy DVD offers a link to booyakasha.biz, a site where you can download a similar add-on. When we began researching this story, Internet domain registration records showed that booyakasha.biz was registered to Bling Software at an address in Gibraltar. (The registration info has since been made private.)
