Olli is the original author of Clonecd and Clonedvd . . .
And he was also responsible, in part, for dvd region killer, which was what Anydvd was called
before it became Anydvd. Believe it or not, Clonecd was a really big deal for its time--before Clonedvd
and before dvd region killer. Clonecd could backup copyprotected PC game cds that Goldenhawk's Cdrwin could not (and even
even did a better job than Discjuggler at one time).
I always found it somewhat interesting that Nero (back then the company was called Ahead) was, at one time, fascinated by Clonecd. Anyway, since Clonecd could backup some copyprotected material, it was probably a good idea to move
Clonecd not only out of Germany--but also out of Switzerland.
Clonedvd could remain with Elby (Elaborate Bytes) in Switzerland, because by itself, it doesn't circumvent digital protection measures. Anydvd needed to leave as well. Enter Slysoft . . .
from
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.php?p=695299&postcount=11
"Once upon a time, there was a guy who did CloneCD. CloneCD was released in November 1999.
He had a tiny little company in Germany which called itself "Elaborate Bytes, Oliver Kastl".
CloneCD always had 1 year of free updates, but from Version 1 to version 2 the price dropped (69,- USD to 49,- USD, AFAIR).
Because he didn't want, that all the customers who paid 69 bucks get really pissed, the guy said: Hey, you trusty fellows, you will get a lifetime of free updates! (Meaning from him, of course... he couldn't predict the things, that happened...).
Then came Macrovision and started to tease this guy. They managed to shut down his ugly white & green Website (hosted in the U.S.A., stupid!) and wrote a lot of scary letters with scary threats.
Then came Sony and started to argue, that "CloneCD violates one of their patents". The reason: If CloneCD is able to copy a patented Sony copy protection, it allows the CloneCD customer to break Sony's patent.
Sounded ridiculous, but became pretty serious after a short while.
The guy managed to get away from Macrovision & Sony, but was really scared. And he forgot to charge for updates.
He was searching for someone to buy CloneCD. Ahead was interested, but the Macrovision & Sony struggle scared them away.
Then came a clever swiss guy and said: "I buy your stuff for a lot of money!
I am in Switzerland, and I don't care about Sony or anybody."
The guy liked this a lot - he was a little afraid of legal stuff, as he was personally liable, and he had responsibility for his family - and sold the stuff to the swissman, who founded the company "Elaborate Bytes AG" (Corporation) in Switzerland.
So CloneCD was sold the first time in the year 2002 to Elaborate Bytes AG, including all rights, trademarks, sheeps, etc.
CloneCD stayed with Elaborate Bytes AG until September 2003.
Still, nobody was *ever* charged for an update!
Compare this with other companies...
Imagine this - no update charge from PowerDVD 2 until 4! Or think about WinDVD, even worse... Or Windows 98, ME to XP! Nero?
I think this was a fair deal!
Due to the legal change in Europe, Elaborate Bytes AG considered to sell CloneCD. SlySoft bought CloneCD, and they accepted the obligation to honor the "1 year free updates" for elby customers, which they did.
"
(rest snipped)