Andre Yoskowitz
28 Mar 2009 15:44
In September, RealNetworks launched RealDVD, a $30 USD software application that allows users to make a copy of their DVDs and it play it back on their PCs.
By October however, the company had been sued by the MPAA and the Hollywood studios, and the software was taken down pending the verdict of the lawsuit.
Yesterday, lawyers for Real told a federal judge that they did not expect the studios to sue the company, and were somewhat shocked at the speed in which the lawsuit came down. Early in the month, the MPAA filed a new motion, accusing Real of destroying pertinent evidence relevant to the case but Real says they did not hold onto the evidence because they hadn't expected to be sued.
Making the software legal is the fact that no copy protection is broken during the process, and after being ripped, the image of the DVD still uses CSS encryption as well as another layer of DRM from Real themselves. The MPAA believes the program does break copy protections.