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Legal Answer to Lifetime License Issue

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cybrsage

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I have done extensive research on US Federal Law (yes, US Law does not really apply here, but it was the only thing I could reliably find) about the whole "Lifetime License" issue so many are up in arms about.

First, let me say that I can understand the emotions people are feeling. The product name did not change so people feel their lifetime license should still apply. The strength of these feelings is indirectly proportional to the length of time the license purchaser has had the license. I bought mine in 2008, so my emotions are pretty much at the zero point on the subject - I got a LOT of use out of it. For someone with a 5 month license, yeah, their emotions are running at max.

The Law removes emotions from the equation, for the most part, and makes everything clinical and the goal is fairness to all. That is what lead me on my research about how the law would treat this issue.

It comes down to what happened to the original company. I will cover all the possibilities even though all but one does not apply and state what US Law says on it.

1. The original company went out of business and no one purchased the rights to the software. The lifetime license is void and null. This is obvious to all, no company at all with the product means no updates ever. This does not apply in our case.

2. The original company went out of business and another company purchased the rights to the software. The purchasing company is under no obligation to honor any warranties or license agreements unless such items are part of the receivership agreement. This does not apply in our case.

3. The original company went out of business due to a legal shuffle in which only the name and tax ids were changed. The ownership of the company did not change hands at all or changed hands to close relatives or to someone already in upper management of the original company (aka, a close held individual). The new company is required to honor all warranties and licenses. This might apply in our case.

4. The original company went out of business and a new or different already existing company (that is not owned by a close held person - see 3 for more info on close held person) reverse engineered or somehow obtained in depth info about their products and started to produce these products. The new company is not required to honor any warranties or licenses. This might apply in our case.


To know if 3 or 4 applied in our case we have to know if any of the current owners of RedFox were owners, close relatives (spouse, brother, sister, parent, child), or other close held persons in SlySoft. From what I have read on this forum, the new owners were all mid management and lower level employees of SlySoft, that none of them were upper management. If this is true, then number 4 applies. If any of the new owners were specifically executive management (I have no idea how many management layers SlySoft had, I suspect few) then number 3 may very well apply.

My personal view, from what I have read about the ownership of RedFox, is that number 4 applies, If that is the case then there is absolutely no requirement to honor any warranties or licenses sold by the previous company. No one has to like it but everyone has to accept it.



Unless someone can show how 3 applies, then 4 is our situation. I hope this puts the issue to rest once and for all.
 
Sorry, realized I posted this in the wrong section...but I cannot figure out how to move it. Some mod, please help me out. I reported it to help that process along.

Thanks!
 
THE MAN IS KEEPING ME DOWN!!!!

:) I completely understand, keep doing the excellent job you always do.
 
Moved it to a more appropriate section too ;-)
 
Did you look into at all how it isn't legal that the code is being used by a new company, when the devs that stole it, had no legal right to use it with a new company? That had been discussed in another thread a month or so ago, but it suddenly disappeared...
 
They didn't steal anything, use the search. Do not make that accusation again.
 
The post was removed... I had a tab with it, and soon after it was gone. If it wasn't send me the link...
 
I have been a long time user of both Elby and Slysoft software for over 11 years now, if not longer. Yes, I got the lifetime licenses for them all.

Am I disappointed that it appears that Slysoft just changed their name, shifted base of operations and now any updates need a new license, and that mine is no longer valid for the new version? Yes, I am.

Does it mean I will be on the look out for different programs to replace Slysoft? Maybe. I didn't get AnyDVD HD to rip DVDs. I got it to watch DVDs from different countries without having to flash firmware on the players.

Then came downloadable digital copies of DVDs/Blu Rays, but the problem was you had no options on where to save it, or what to play it on (many places, it has to be played on their specific player) so I started making my own 'digital copies' for portable devices.

But do I feel I got my money's worth out of it? Mostly yes. Example as to why: Jurassic World Collectors Blu-Ray/DVD set. In Australia, almost $200. Ordered from the US, even with shipping, $120. And that's just one example.

So yes, disappointed that my lifetime license is no longer lifetime. But will see where I go from here in regards to getting Redfox or a different program.
 
Just throwing this in, because a lot of people are complaining about "having been ripped off" and how "Slysoft/Redfox is cheating them":
not sure if it came to everyone's mind yet, that, apparently, the whole staff has been without income for 5 months now.
They're not doing this for fun!

In light of that, I find the whining about having "lost" 100$ on a program (and some of those whiners got quite a few years out of it) a bit shabby.

I had my lifetime license - and I've seen how much work they put into that software to constantly keep it up to date and crack new protections on a daily basis.

I never understood why they even offered a lifetime license for a piece of software, that actually is more of a continuous service, than just an application.
But of course I opted into that lifetime agreement, I'm not that holy, I like to save money as much as anyone.
But I fully understand why I have to buy again.

Somewhere in another post I read that someone was unhappy with this, because he only got as far as decrypting two discs with his lifetime license.
I agree, that this is an extreme case and concur - would put me off as well.
Simple: everyone has to decide whether they want to go along with it or not. I'm fairly certain, that the RedFox staff is fully aware that some people will not.
The way I see it, they don't have much of a choice if they want to continue.
 
Am I disappointed that it appears that Slysoft just changed their name, shifted base of operations and now any updates need a new license, and that mine is no longer valid for the new version? Yes, I am.

But that isn't the case. Slysoft does not exist anymore, and Redfox is _not_ even the juridicial successor. They have no access to the assets of slysoft. They are just the developers who decided to keep on going the software.

So yes, disappointed that my lifetime license is no longer lifetime.

Thats wrong in multiple ways. First of all, "Lifetime licence" refers to the customer lifetime as well as the companies lifetime. Since Slysoft is dead now, your lifetime you can't expect anymore updates, but your license nevertheless is still valid (and remains to be) to the last supported version 7.6.9.5.

Maybe RedFox should have been renaming AnyDVD 8.0 to something like EachDisc 1.0 do make the difference a little bit clearer.
 
I just want to point out calling people shabby for being outraged by a company doing some shady things, seems to me you have alot of customers here who like to use this product and they really do deserve a break/bargain because
who knows maybe in 2 weeks you get busted again with some legal crap and OMG Gotta buy a new Subscription ALL OVER again bleh, live and learn I guess.
 
Thats wrong in multiple ways. First of all, "Lifetime licence" refers to the customer lifetime as well as the companies lifetime.

No, not so wrong. It might be a great shell game, but Slysoft forums still work, as does Slysoft software checking for updates. So yes, it was a name and location change. You can bandy semantics all you want, but Slysoft was 'shut down', then was reopened as Redfox somewhere else(?). Same software, different packaging.

As I typed, did I get my money's worth, yes. Will I get Redfox.. maybe.
 
so is my 7695 going to stop functioning for blu ray conversions? soon sigh
 
sorry not trying to ruin this thread, I have tried to do the star wars film blu ray the new one and it does about 10 minutes and then does not finish any fix for that you know of?
 
No, not so wrong. It might be a great shell game, but Slysoft forums still work, as does Slysoft software checking for updates. So yes, it was a name and location change. You can bandy semantics all you want, but Slysoft was 'shut down', then was reopened as Redfox somewhere else(?). Same software, different packaging.

No, that's quite a misunderstanding. There was _no_ "reopening". It might look so, but it is a completely other company. It's just, that the developers had access to the source of AnyDVD. Nevertheless, it keeps to be another company and it is a complete new backend (new servers, new location, new infrastructure).
 
sorry not trying to ruin this thread, I have tried to do the star wars film blu ray the new one and it does about 10 minutes and then does not finish any fix for that you know of?

Maybe it's just your Disc (or drive), but probably that is one of the "too-new-discs".
 
I just hope for their own sake that it won't happen a second time in a couple of years, and that they won't suddenly rename themself "Bluegoose" or "Yellowwolf" or whatever else and ask for payment a third time. Because then their reputation would be gone.

Until then, shit happens, and I will be understanding and trust them, but I'll wait until licenses are really for sale before I upgrade to 8+.

I still think they should make an exception for the people who purchased a lifetime less than 1 years or so before Slysoft closed. Those people have reasons to be quite pissed, and they should get an extension of their license by Redfox. Note that I'm not part of them, so I'm not asking this for me.
 
I still think they should make an exception for the people who purchased a lifetime less than 1 years or so before Slysoft closed. Those people have reasons to be quite pissed, and they should get an extension of their license by Redfox. Note that I'm not part of them, so I'm not asking this for me.

In fact they do for people who bought a license on or after 2015-12-01, regardless of the license bought. Now you may state, that this could have been fairer for different licenses, but may be that this would have take to much effort on RedFox site. I totally understand that lifetime licensees of last year might be pissed off, about the situation.
 
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