Hollywood studios sue RealNetworks for RealDVD
Six Hollywood studios have filed a legal suit against RealNetworks for releasing RealDVD, which allows users to copy commercial DVDs. Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, the Walt Disney Company and Sony are sueing the company and seeking an injunction to stop any further sale of the software. RealNetworks’ RealDVD should be called StealDVD,” explained Greg Goeckner, general counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). “RealNetworks knows its product violates the law and undermines the hard-won trust that has been growing between America’s movie makers and the technology community. We will vigorously defend our right to stop companies from bringing products to market that mislead consumers and clearly violate the law.”
RealNetworks is defending the case by arguing that its software still encrypts copies of DVDs and thus stops them from being shared on peer to peer networks. “We are disappointed that the movie industry is following in the footsteps of the music industry and trying to shut down advances in technology, rather than embracing changes that provide consumers with more value and flexibility for their purchases,” RealNetworks said in a statement. However the studios are claiming that the software is being used in “rent, rip and return” scams, where DVDs are rented from firms like Blockbuster or Netflix, copied and then sent back. The studios are suing under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA), which prohibits the sale of software that gets around copy protection systems.
Source: VNUnet
Comments(31)
Bit slow aren’t they? It has been possible to copy commersial dvd’s for nearly aslong there has been commercial dvd’s. Why this particular software and why now?
When will the MPAA wasters learn?
IMHO Slysoft Anydvd is the one to use.
I thought people were allowed to make a backup copy? What about these legitimate users? Shouldn’t they have a way to protect their investment?
American law is so funny … the whole MPAA is a scam, film ratings given by a board more secretive than most government agencies is absurd
America? ROFLMAO
i think its mostly because Real player is a lil more know rather than Any DVD to the “real world”. to people that dont use google as a bible. do i make any sense?
A program that might be user friendly to one person might not be use friendly to the next. I think the reason they chose this particular program is because its the pre-school version of DVD copying programs. Although most Ive used are easy as well with the exception of a few which only require minimal knowledge of bitrates, aspect ratios, audio codecs etc.
Hilarious, don’t Sony (one of the companies sueing) make DVD BURNERS?? First they enable us to burn, then sue us for doing so. Quite a racket they have going.
That’s a good BUFFERING thing.
Hope RealNetworks loses and goes bankrupt and their sh BUFFERING it software dies along with it. BUFFERING
By the way, realdvd is worse than you think .. BUFFERING .. it actually adds DRM to your copies -,-
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/15005-RealDVD-makes-ripping-easier-DRM-restrictions-included.html
…buffering
This is similar to the fda in america.
The fda claims they are protecting the health of america with standards for food and drugs. Yet the drugs that they approve usually do more harm then they do good.
Just but cutting high frutose corn syrup out of my diet I have lost 40 lbs!
Yet the fda lets many people beleive that fat is bad for them when it is what gives one energy.
MPAA is just technology instead of food and drugs… they just want to control the “free” people.
Great here we go again with motion picture companys sueing the software companys now. Amazing. If these music and film people are so concerned with people copying cd’s and dvd’s etc why don’t they sue all the millions of people who buy these products legir from retailers and then lend them to their friends to install on there pc’s or make a copy of the music cd’s they gave to them. These people are so full of it. So then what about Slysoft and all the others that are out there. Are they going to start doing the same to all the others.
Wow… sueing to stop DVDs from being copied.
I thought that ship sailed long long ago. I mean any idiot can type “how to copy a DVD” into google and get thousands opon thousands of results.
What’s next? “MPAA sues the population of Earth for being what they call ‘douchebags’. Demands that time is turned back to 1982.”
@Cim: Don’t give them any strange ideas. They won’t understand that you were ironic.
I totally agree with you.
difference is that RealNetworks is a company promoting and selling the dvdripper as a product … others are not promoted by companies and are usually given away for free ( so the producer of the software is not making profit from the illegal copying of dvds )
Oh noes! I hope the Chinese pirates don’t see this. I mean, can you imagine all the pirated DVD’s that could potentially flood the markets and side-streets of every major city in the world because of this program?
The movie industry was built upon piracy so who cares every ones a pirate
Isn’t it great that the United States….which is known as the land of Freedom,has allowed so many freedoms to be taken away from the people. It’s really no wonder the rest of the world hates us, we run around talking a big game about how every nation should have freedom….then we take treat our own people like everyone is a terrorist and claim it’s for the best. At one time Nazism was thought to be the best thing for Germany…and we all know how that turned out. I believe it’s time for the American people to stand up and fight for our rights. We need to stop letting corporations run our country and put the power back into the hands of the people. It’s just sickening when the oil company’s have higher security clearances than the FBI and CIA…..WTF MAN!!!!
“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both” – Jefferson
“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” – Ronald Regan
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” — C. S. Lewis
“Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.” Benjamin Franklin
MPAA is going to lose this one, I’m pretty sure… of course it depends how crooked (payed) the judge is that is…
The tighter the RIAA & MPAA grasp their fists, denying people the reasonable use of material that has made it’s way into the public domain, the more will slip through. They may as well try to hold on to air or water for all the good their attempts do.
As for RealDVD… Sounds interesting, but I like using DVDshrink. It’s FREE and works awesome. Shrinks a commercial DVD to fit on a regular 4.7Gb disc. And YES I use it when I need to copy a DVD.
I think it’s SICK how the MPAA & RIAA have tried to make everyone who enjoys movies, music, etc, into a criminal suspect in their eyes. It’s my profound hope that MY government tells the US one to go to hell as far as the whole “pirating” thing goes.
If you want REAL piracy, how about charging FIFTEEN BUX to rent a seat for a couple hours! Or SIXTEEN BUX for 30 cents worth of sugar water & corn! THAT is REAL piracy! Lower prices in theatres to less than HALF of what they currently are & see how many people would go to the movies rather than download em!
L
DVDxCopy springs to mind, similar thing happened to them a few years ago.
I have to agree with the MPAA on this one. I think they have reason to file a lawsuit in the fact that people can and will rent movies and copy them over to their computer before bringing them back. However, I was doing that long before RealDVD came out, and it’ll still be quite possible when it leaves. RealDVD might have made it easier, not sure though because I’ve never used it, but I still found other programs that were pretty easy to use. I think the major thing is the fact that RealDVD is paid for, and will be more known then alot of shareware programs. They can never really stop shareware programs as they are linked to hundreds, thousands, and maybe hundreds of thousands of sites. I’m still using a program that was released maybe 4-5 years ago, and can still be found on the web to this day, and it takes all the security off the DVDs as well as save them to your computer. Much worse than RealDVD, but the studio’s and the MPAA will take what they can get I guess.
are we going thru this sh*it again? piracy isn’t good and we know it. But studios are just feeling pressured by it… lots of money involved, isn’t it? sons of a biatches, who is the bad guy now? are we, pirates yet guys who help others sharing stuff or are them, the fu[kers who earn milions of dollars a month?
Su[k my co[k, will ya?
this is silly, it’s like saying, ok i’am going to sue beer companies because if there isn’t beer, people won’t break the law of drunk driving, so beer companies are guilty because they make drunk driving possible.
RealDVD didn’t state in the instruction that it is make for copying dvd of those password protected right? You can’t sue someone for their high technology, and this technology is very in general, it’s not saying..”wanna bypass copyright protection and copy movies illegally? if so, then use me”!
I have to agree with LK #19 on this one. Well said mate..
Spread the truth people… RIAA, MPAA, government bodies, all of them need to be well fuc*ked…
“we are just peons in this big sh!tting world” – my saying
Copying your own wedding home video is illegal?
Sorry to burst your bubble about the MPAA or RIAA in the USA…
In case you all didn’t know, almost all the governments of foreign countries, are trying to establish a new international legal framework, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement!
The proposed agreement would criminalize copyright and intellectual property offenses. Under ACTA, Internet service providers would be required to filter illegal transfers of content and help the government track down the people downloading it. Border patrols would gain the authority to seize and destroy copyrighted materials at the border.
The deal would create a international regulator that would turn border guards and other public security personnel into copyright police! The security officials would be charged with checking laptops, iPods and even cellular phones for content that “infringes” on copyright laws, such as ripped CDs and movies.
Also, governments would be able to charge individuals with copyright-related crimes even if rights holders do not request that charges be pressed.
https://secure.wikileaks.org/leak/acta-proposal-2007.pdf
Rise up and defend yourself, it’s your culture, your society, right?
Enough is enough! Resist and fight back, or don’t regret later! Once, these new laws come into enforcement, which will be a lot more difficult to deal and cope…
Now is the time, boycott all MPAA and RIAA until they reform, repent!
it is all about the benjamins.
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement = Censorship! Why pay and support that? Unless your the MPAA and RIAA wanting to crack down on the public in return for more profits!
Follow the money:
Top four campaign contributions for 2006:
Time Warner $21,000
News Corp $15,000
Sony Corp of America $14,000
Walt Disney Co $13,550
Top two Industries:
TV/Movies/Music $181,050
Lawyers/Law Firms $114,200
Hilarious, don’t Sony (one of the companies sueing) make DVD BURNERS?? First they enable us to burn, then sue us for doing so. Quite a racket they have going.
exactly! and some of their writers even come with NERO! wooptido!
Other countries involved in the ACTA talks are Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.