AfterDawn
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| URL | http://www.afterdawn.com/ |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Technology, Software Index, News |
| Registration | Optional |
| Owner | AfterDawn Oy |
| Created by | |
| Launched | 6/10/1999 |
AfterDawn.com is a technology web site operated by a Finnish private company called AfterDawn Oy. The site provides news, guides and software downloads (freeware and shareware trials) related to digital video and digital entertainment. Site also has a popular discussion forum that has more than 560,000 registered members and 1.8 million posts (November, 2006).
Since the beginning, AfterDawn has been available in two languages: English and Finnish. Both sites share the same user registration database and same layout, even though the news material and guides are independently maintained. The Finnish version of the site is ranked as the Finland's 2nd largest IT/technology website by the TNS Metrix.
[edit] History
The site was originally launched as an MP3 information portal, but quickly after expanded to cover also news and software tools related to the DVD-Video technology, which was (during the year 1999) quickly becoming a big phenomenon. The software selection became quickly dominated by video editing tools and DVD rippers (which were virtually non-existent on U.S. -based websites due the DMCA limitations). AfterDawn was used as an example of a site hosting DVD rippers outside the U.S. jurisdiction in a supporting motion during the "DVD CCA vs McLaughlin, Bunner, et al." court case.
The site's discussion forums were launched in February, 2001. In June, 2005 AfterDawn launched a new site, called Filepedia to expand their software archive beyond the scope of digital a/v tools they had hosted on AfterDawn.com domain.
[edit] Legal trouble
AfterDawn eventually became one of the most popular download destinations for DVD rippers, which attracted the attention of Macrovision who had previously managed to cease the development of a popular DVD ripper, DVD Decrypter. In November, 2005 Macrovision contacted AfterDawn, forcing the site to take down the hosted copy of the DVD Decrypter.
In Autumn 2005, the Parliament of Finland adopted a new copyright legislation, based on the European Union Copyright Directive which made it illegal for Finnish company, such as AfterDawn, to host or actively link to tools and software programs that allow circumventing copy protection mechanisms (such as those found on DVD-Video discs). The legislation, which came into force on 1st of January, 2006, forced AfterDawn to remove several popular software items and guides from its site.
