You're probably right, because the part of DMCA 1201 that criminalizes individual acts of breaking DRM has about 40 different exceptions, plus a general "this i

You're probably right, because the part of DMCA 1201 that criminalizes individual acts of breaking DRM has about 40 different exceptions, plus a general "this is not intended to overturn fair use" clause, plus a rule-making process that lets the Copyright Office add more exceptions if they feel they are necessary. Given that there is already caselaw in favor of format shifting (e.g. RIAA v. Diamond) it's highly unlikely a court is going to say format shifting is wrong if DRM is involved. None of that matters because nobody is going to try and litigate against individual disc rippers, they are going to litigate against the people who actually wrote the ripping software, and DMCA 1201 is far more harsh to them. There is basically no exception to the prohibition on DRM-breaking tools - I'm not even 100% sure that, say, verifying each individual's usecase before letting them break DRM is enough to escape DMCA 1201's ire.