How to “decrypt” DLC files

(If you’re in a hurry, see at the very end for a quick list of all useful software and video tutorials)

JDownloader is an open source download manager, primarily aimed at downloading from captcha-protected download sites (RapidShare, Megaupload, Hotfile, Netload…) but supporting also any “normal” download (like a picture from photobucket, or actually any file from any server).
Although claiming to be open source (and actually, it’s currently under the GNU GPL), parts of it are close source. Notably because they rely on an undisclosed encryption algorithm for their encrypted links list files. I’ve never understood the point of making those lists undecipherable, particularly since anyone is able to open such a list with JDowloader and to grab the files. Only they won’t be able to easily get the location of those files.
Anyway, there are several easy ways to find the links inside a DLC:

1. The always-working method: JDownloader will never be able to prevent you from using this method, as this would require the complicity of hosters. Basically, this method involves to simply spy your own connection and record what URLs are retrieved by JDownloader. When you load a DLC links list, JDownloader will check if the files are online. With any packet sniffer you can list those links. A more detailed short video tutorial was posted on sala source. Just in case this goes offline (as other DLC decrypters have), I mirrored their video on Megaupload there [http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TJ85M6AX] (tip: if you want to save download wait time, don’t download it yet but rather watch it live on megavideo [http://www.megavideo.com/?d=TJ85M6AX]) and their toolkit too [http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BRTD1GNI].
2. The easier method, but probably not working with recent DLC files (JDownloader tend to change their encryption method regularly to avoid decrypters): a decrypter made by Seba. It was originally posted on a BlogSpot blog but eventually disappeared. But thanks to FilesTube I still managed to find it and I uploaded it here [http://www.megaupload.com/?d=26FVJVN1]. It was created around May 2009, so it should work with DLC files created before this date, and possibly during some time after. I didn’t test it with current DLC files.

For a short summary:

• DLC Decrypter version 0.7 (May 2009) by Seba (broken link, used to point to http://www.megaupload.com/?d=26FVJVN1)
• Video tutorial [http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TJ85M6AX] that (normally should) always works, and the tools [http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BRTD1GNI] that go with it

Update (2011-03-27): online DLC decrypter

As you can see from the comments, every now and then some DLC decryption sites pop up then go. Well, I think I’ve found a pretty “stable” one, or at least one which has been maintained for around 9 months now. I just tested it, and it works for the moment. It’s a bit slow, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if their inner workings were just like the “always working” method I described above: run jDownloader and analyze its network traffic! (which would mean a very high probability of remaining online as long as the owner wishes to) Or of course maybe it just means they’re on a slow server, eh… The site is dcrypt.it

Update (2011-04-17): offline DLC/CCF/RSDF decrypter

As you can see from the comments, the decrypter “by Seba” is actually developed by a company which still updates it. The current version seems to be 1.7.0.0 (the one in Seba’s pack is only 0.7) so it’s probably worth the upgrade… if you manage to run the installer (it failed to install on my Windows 7 x64, which is why I’m not exactly sure of the current version number). Their website: containerex.info

Update (2011-10-27): another online decrypter

linkdecrypter.com offers pretty much the same functions as dcrypt.it, so those 2 are pretty much interchangeable should one of them be temporarily unavailable.

Update (2012-01-31): files stolen by the FBI

As you most likely know, Megaupload was shut down by the FBI without any prior notice. Some files I linked to were hosted there without any backup… so, broken links now I guess On the plus side, the online tools as well as the self-hosted containerex.info work just as well (better indeed) as the things I hosted on Megaupload. As a memorial (and maybe in case there’s a way to get those files back), I’m leaving the original MU URLs in plain-text next to the former links.