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A bit-for-bit copy doesn't need to break the encryption at all. It doesn't care ... the DVD is one giant data file. It's a stream of bits. Or am I misunderstanding?
I'll explain a little bit more, on a commercial DVD the files are encrypted. On the original DVD is a section that has been allocated for the key, the DVD player can obtain the key and decrypt the files for playback. If you copy the files on the DVD bit for bit to your hard drive or any other device they are still encrypted and useless without being decrypted. To license DVD technology you can't make a DVD player that can read this key other than for internal decryption. There is no way to obtain the key from the disc.
The encryption used for DVD has a lot of holes and it's easily decrypted which is where the third party programs come in but you're breaking the encryption which is where the DMCA comes in. The illegality doesn't have anything to do with the copyright of the video itself, it has to do with the act of decryption.
I recently downloaded WinX DVD Ripper ($35 from the site. D/L only). Has worked great so far; ripp.... err .. 'backing up' all my DVDs to the hard drive
No loss in quality, very easy to use, does a fast backup. Plus, you get three copies of the software. We have multiple PCs; multiple copies has made the process go faster.
This weekend is tax free. I'm going to buy a couple of exterior hard drives to have multiple backups.
AnyDVD is, in my opinion, the best copy-protection circumventing software available.
I've tried most all of them, and spent quite a bit of money doing it. AnyDVD is the most up-to-date program you can buy. I have several DVD's that couldn't be cracked by other programs, and AnyDVD had no trouble with it.
Once you have the copy-protection stripped, you can convert to whatever format you like. makeMKV is a good program; I like that you can retain subtitles easily with it, and utilize forced subtitles.
ripp.... err .. 'backing up' all my DVDs to the hard drive
You're still ripping whether they are discs you own or not. "Ripping" only means "copying the data from the media". There is no illegal connotation there.
I use DVDFAB it does everything I need. As for copyright laws, you are allowed to make one backup copy of every disk you own.
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