RipIt4Me 1.5.1.0 can exclude files that wouldn't fit on a dual layer DVD, can re-rip smaller VTS sets in search of a menu if no menu has been found in movie and menu only mode, the button info file contains human readable commands and the jump to menu function has been improved.

DVDFab Decrypter 3.0.2.5 can parse both ISO and UDF file systems, has a new chapter range function for the main movie, supports newer versions of ARccOS and fixes some bugs.

ProgDVB 4.79.5 contains an important upgrade for BDA cards and fixes some bugs.

AutoGK 2.35 beta uses lame 3.97, adjusts the audio delay properly in the preview and fixes an issue when using AVI input with MP3 audio.

Italy, despite the Euro DMCA, appears to have some reasonable fair use provisions that the Euro DMCA is designed to circumvent.. now a few enterprising Italian citizens are taking the studios to court because they cannot exercise their Fair Use rights and make backup copies of their DVDs.

Last but not least, as the TV season has started again, making TV episodes available online seems to become more popular. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox all prove that you can compete with P2P and make money off it.

It's amazing how fast time passes when you don't have time to write up the news on a daily basis - I'm afraid we're in for yet another long wrap-up:

myFairTunes 0.5.5b is yet another improved version to liberate your iTunes tracks from their DRM shackles.

AutoGK 2.34 beta uses the latest MediaInfo lib, automatically sets the correct number of threads in XviD and fixes a crash in vstrip.dll.

HC 0.19 supports the latest DGIndex version, includes optimizations for fades, contains more RD optimizations in the best profile, has an improved auto GOP function as well as some minor GUI changes and there's a bunch of bugfixes.

FixVTS 1.6 can better handle malformed IFO files and supports the PGC LBA pointer fix via commandline.

RipIt4Me 1.5.0 displays the space saved when removing bogus material, performs DVD analysis after blanking, unlocks the tray when DVD Decrypter is aborted and there are some more minor changes and bugfixes.

Nic's Windows Media Encoder WMNicEnc 1.02 beta makes the VC-1 codec options more readable.

Dr. DivX 2.0.1 beta 2 supports DivX 6.4.

LG may have taken a step back, but NEC is now manufacturing the first controller chip which supports reading and writing both Blu-ray and HD DVD, and Ricoh and Pioneer are working on the optical heads that go with this chipset. So HD DVD and Blu-ray may go the way of DVD-R / DVD+R after all.

Target is the second retailer to be at odds with Hollywood over movie downloads. Could the studio's trying to protect themselves with DRM that makes consumers run back to traditional DVD retailers in order not to piss off their largest retailers (Target makes up about 15% of the total US retail market)?

ProgDVB 4.79.2 is a bugfix release and it interoperates better with certain DVB cards.

AC3Filter 1.10b has a tray icon, supports SPDIF mode in the DivX player and improves SPDIF compatibility with certain postprocessing filters.

What iTunes competitors have long waited for, access to Apple's DRM, may now be in their grasp, thanks to the an unlikely source: After writing tools to remove Apple's "FairPlay" DRM, Jon Johansen has reverse-engineered the very same DRM and is licensing the alternative implementation to interested parties.

The British Library is weighing in on copyright law: Besides taking an expectedly library friendly stance, they support Fair Use exemptions and oppose copyright term extensions. I guess they won't be getting any Christmas cards from the RIAA and MPAA this year ;)

ZoomPlayer v5 Preview 8 features an enhanced fullscreen navigation interface, along with many other redesigned interfaces and speed optimizations.

DVDPlanner 0.2.0.1 has a new track viewer which incorporates button creation and links for menus and BOV, comes with a DVD creation wizard, can generate simple menus for each track, supports renaming over all assets, supports stills that last as long as an audio track, supports MPEG-1 properly and there are many bugfixes.

Last but not least, the first verdict against P2P users in Sweden has been reversed: an appeals court saw that a screenshot with a filename and an IP address isn't enough to prove that a movie was illegally uploaded.

The latest DGPulldown 1.0.9 build fixes a drag&drop bug.

DivX 6.4 beta 1 has a 1080i/p HD encoding mode, has a new fast first pass mode to speed up the multipass encoding process without sacrificing quality, contains new resizing filters, improves encoding of interlaced content and it also has adaptive noise reduction.

DVDSubEdit 1.34 now properly hides all subtitles when the hide subpic button is used, and it's possible to move subpictures by an odd number of pixels.

DVDFab Decrypter 3.0.2.0 is the next stable release of the 3.0.x line. It contains no changed over the .18 beta.

ProgDVB 4.79 contains some fixes for Windows XP visual styles and some fixes in the internal engine as well.

DVD Rebuilder 0.98 can burn a processed disc using ImgBurn, has an option to keep unreferenced material, has an improved layer break recognition engine, and there are various smaller improvements and fixes. As usual, there's also a full installer that contains all the required software.

The MPAA is citing yet another self-sponsored study to try and get lawmakers to pass even more constraining copyright legislation. Their latest approach is based on how piracy kills jobs and reduces tax revenues. If only congress would ask the same questions as the EFF does: if consumers don't spend money on movies, do they keep that money in their bank accounts? No, they end up buying other products - thus creating jobs and tax revenue in other areas.

Variety has an interesting article on the future of iTune's movie offering - it gives an insight at how the movie retail market works in the US. As Wal-Mart makes out up to 40% of the total DVD revenue, they are very keen at keeping their own purchase price in line with what online retailers pay, and to ensure that online offerings don't undercut their in-store offers. Pressure from Wal-Mart appears to have stopped Apple at cutting deals with other studios except Disney, but this may change if Wal-Mart and Apple come to an agreement.

Last month's news can be found here.