Intellectual Property Law

Glaser: RealDVD Not For Pirates

By David Kravets

SAN FRANCISCO — RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser defended his DVD copying software product before a federal court here Tuesday, testifying that DRM controls on the $30 software make it virtually useless for pirates.

“Our product is not designed for somebody who is willing to pirate,” Glaser told a packed federal courtroom during the second day of a legal challenge to the RealDVD software brought by the Hollywood studios.

He said the RealDVD software, which U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel froze from the market in September pending the outcome of a three-day hearing expected to end Wednesday, allows for just one copy of a DVD. “You cannot make a copy of a copy,” he said, noting that the copy can only be played on five computers running the RealDVD software.

“Customers that don’t like those limitations aren’t our target market and we don’t have the best product for them,” Glaser testified.

He said those wanting to pirate discs would use a host of elicit ripping programs available for free or cheap on the internet.

Still, the chief executive testified that RealDVD couldn’t block patrons from copying rented or borrowed DVDs, a main concern from the Hollywood studios. “There’s no way to know the difference between a rental disc and a personal disc,” he said.

The Motion Picture Association of America claims the software is illegal because it circumvents encryption technology prohibiting the copying of DVDs. The studios also claim there is no fair use right to copying DVDs, even for personal use.

During a brief presentation of the software, Glaser demonstrated how a warning appears when somebody clicks to record a disc. The warning says it’s only OK if the consumer owns the disc.

In open court, Glaser pressed play on the film, Finding Nemo, and the FBI warning against copying discs was briefly shown before the demonstration changed course.

He said the software, and a proposed DVD-player that stores hundreds of copies of DVDs, was designed for business travelers, consumers with large movie libraries and for families with small children.

“Discs can easily get scratched or get peanut butter all over them or get misplaced,” Glaser testified.

He testified that consumers have a legal right to make backup copies of their personal discs, an assertion that has never been answered in the federal courts.

Patel could sidestep answering that question if she finds that RealDVD circumvents anti-copying encryption on DVDs. That’s because the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 prohibits circumventing encryption technology, even for the purposes of fair use.

Glaser claimed his product does not allow for the circumvention of a DVD’s Content Scramble System. “We add a second level of encryption on top,” he said.

Earlier in the day, a computer scientist testified on behalf of the MPAA and said RealDVD circumvents the CSS encryption system.

Full post as published by Threat Level on April 28, 2009 (boomark / email).