SlySoft is at it again. The Caribbean firm says it has broken the copy-protection technology used on some Blu-ray discs to prevent consumers and bootleggers from copying movie content. SlySoft is offering a 20 percent discount on its latest version.

Last year SlySoft launched HD-DVD-cracking software designed to let consumers decrypt HD-DVD movie discs and copy them. AnyDVD HD software cracked the Advanced Access System, a specification for managing content stored on HD DVDs.

SlySoft also produces several other copy-protection software tools, including CloneDVD to burn copies of DVDS, Game Jackal Pro, which burns CD games to the hard drive, and Virtual CloneDrive, which is virtual drive software. SlySoft could not immediately be reached for comment.

Focusing on Blu-ray

Now that Blu-ray is the clear winner in the high-definition format battle, SlySoft has turned its attention to the Sony format. The latest version, AnyDVD HD 6.4.0.0, promises to crack Blu-ray copy protection. SlySoft is peddling the program on its Web site for $47.

SlySoft's claims about its software appear to be accurate. The company has a track record for its ability to hack CD and DVD copy protection and let consumers clone the files. But Richard Doherty, an analyst at Envisioneering Group, said the program may not work with all Blu-ray discs.

"We don't have the package to know whether this works with a handful of discs or would work with the latest Blu-ray discs with Sony and Fox, but we are doing tests," he said. "We should have more information to report next week."

A Slew of Crackers

"AnyDVD HD comes with the same functionality as AnyDVD, but with additional features for full Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD support, including decryption of Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies," the SlySoft Web site says.

Specifically, SlySoft is cracking BD+, a technology Macrovision developed. According to Macrovision, more than 20 companies, including major consumer electronics manufacturers, motion-picture studios, and The Blu-ray Disc Association, use BD+ technology.

Although some industry analysts believe the film and music industry will eventually scrap complex copy-protection schemes, concerns over piracy could instead lead the movie industry to develop a distribution model in which consumers download content and pay for a predetermined viewing time before access expires.

Will Police Bust Offenders?

While that debate goes on, the bottom line is that it is illegal for consumers to use SlySoft's software to crack Blu-ray discs and copy them, even to their hard drive, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. However, Doherty said, he hasn't seen many consumers arrested for that.

"Truth be told, I have jaywalked in my life but there are no cops waiting to arrest me," Doherty said. "If somebody were cranking out 100,000 discs in Brooklyn based on this, we would see swift action. But we haven't seen anybody prosecuted on what this company seems to be violating with its capabilities. There seem to be no studio panics or nosedives out of the 10th-floor window yet, so it doesn't seem that the execs are too concerned about it at this point."

Now only if the disc weren't so expensive...