Link: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/judges-top-secr.html
RealNetworks is a company that sold software that allowed people to copy their DVD's onto other DVD-r's or onto the computer. The software of course peeked the attention of the MPAA who of course sued RealNetworks saying that they are violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The case is still being held in court and the decision of RealNetworks' innosence has yet to be made, but the judge residing over the case (that same judge that first heard the Napster case) has ordered RealNetwork to stop selling RealDVD software. Which has taken a big impact on RealNetwork.
The MPAA claims that RealNetworks was granted a liscense to descramble DVD code in order to make a DVD player, but RealNetworks just used the descrambling code to make DVD copying software which would be a violation. RealNetworks denies that they are in any such violation and that their software is legal.
Because of the judge's action to stop the sale of RealNetwork's software, the case will probably not go in RealNetworks' favor.
Unfortunately this is the first time I've heard of this software so I haven't gotten a chance to use it and probably never will. It sounds like RealDVD would be very usefull in backing up DVD's onto a computer.
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2 comments:
Let me just say that Real isn't some Mops&Pops software. It is one of the top providers of Internet media software, and I highly doubt that they would so transparently abuse their license to create RealDVD. It's totally understandable that MPAA is furious, and Realnetworks better work their defense up from simply denying the prosecution's claim. However, the idea of Real blatantly violating DMCA by reverse-engineering the DVD descrambler to add another line of software under their name seems slightly unlikely, as they are so reputable. On the other hand, they were kind of sloppy in setting this program up if you think about the fact that people could just rent movies to rip them on their computers and then return them. I don't really know what to think.
Im not sure what to think either, because from the sounds of it, it does appear that this is illegal, and would be easy to rent a movie then return it after downloading it to your computer. the fact that they have only said that their software is legal and not much else, does kind of sound like they have little evidence to support their case.
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