DVD Shrink Gold 2011 is a SCAM!

[Chetwood]

DVD Shrink has been, is and always will be freeware! Development was discontinued in May 2005 resulting in the final versions listed in our FAQ.

ALL other versions like DVD Shrink Gold 2011 are SCAMS!

It's always one of these three things:

• A similar software with a stolen name
  I'm pretty sure Sony would frown upon some slacker coming along selling a PS3 2010.
  
  
• The official free DVD Shrink sold by someone else
  By pretending to sell the latest (non existant) version of DVD Shrink they actually trick people into buying access to their download servers where - as they only then find out - they download the original free version of DVD Shrink.
  
  
• The official free DVD Shrink code hidden under a fake GUI
  Some slacker who is too stupid and lazy to code his own stuff simply steals DVD Shrink and tries to slap on his own GUI to hide the fact he's using it.

This is how DVD Shrink 2010 (and apparently DVD Shrink Gold 2011, see post below) works which you can verify yourself with this trial (pm me in case it's down so we can upload it elsewhere). You can spot it immediately by selecting the button labeled "shrink a DVD including all titles and menus". The black rectangle popping up after a few moments actually is DVD Shrink's preview window shining through the fake GUI. That is because dvdshrink was aware of such scams and took measures to prevent this from going unnoticed.

scam01.png (101.47 KiB) Viewed 140281 times

Pressing ALT-PRINT and CTRL-V in a graphics tool of your choice reveals the underlying minimized window of the original DVD Shrink.

scam02.png (8.47 KiB) Viewed 140281 times

You can also envoke the original GUI by starting an encode and pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE.

In any case, some parasite is mooching off of dvdshrink's hard work and good reputation and just because he decided not to pursue those bastards personally does not mean they should be supported with your money. In fact, as an injured party you should file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

[Chetwood]

Apparently having Google and other sites link to my posting above which successfully warned people not to let themselves get ripped off made those scammers become a little more cautious.

Why else would they offer a trial (that's the right spelling, morons!) that cannot be started due to a missing registration code? Also from the looks of their puny Youtube video they still offer the original Shrink under a fake and even more ugly GUI.

EDIT: Nice, Youtube removed the video after complaints. Also, the scammer morons fixed "trial" but still have screenshots of an HD-DVD blank on their homepage, a medium that DVD Shrink can't read nor write to. Clever.

EDIT 2: Funny, the trial is not available for download anymore. Figures, one couldn't try it without having paid for a key anyway. The "full" version still performs a faked check for a new version. Nice animated progress bar though, LOL!

EDIT 3: Funny to see the scammers being too darn stupid to realize this thread has 60k views since 15 Aug 2010 instead of in one day as they claim. I simply edited the thread title to fit the latest scam iteration (from DVD Shrink 2010 is a SCAM! to DVD Shrink Gold 2011 is a SCAM!) but I guess one can't expect too much from their ilk. Of course they're getting scared we're messing up their scheme by telling people about their scam and now they spam the forum under different nicks until they get banned over and over again.

Bring it on, weirdos. You'll lose this game.

EDIT 4: I had a buddy of mine use the support page and ask them for the key to the (no longer available) trial version and guess what, they actually say one has to subscribe to the license to use the software. Need any more proof this is a scam?