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MPAA, RealNetworks Waging Court Battle Over DVD-Copying Software

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

RealNetworks and Hollywood opened a volley of litigation Tuesday concerning whether movie fans can copy their DVDs.

RealNetworks on Tuesday released RealDVD, a $30 application allowing movie fans to easily make copies of their DVDs with their computer. The same day, the Silicon Valley company said it headed to court to fend off an expected legal challenge from the Motion Picture Association of America, whose already loosening grip on the DVD is at a crossroads.

"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 Tuesday.

The music industry years ago lost much control of its CD, which is not encrypted, to peer-to-peer file sharing services and technology allowing CDs to be burned easily -- even by the technologically unsophisticated. Now Hollywood is fearing RealDVD and other fledgling DVD copying services will ruin the market for DVDs.

Hollywood is already reeling from open source DVD decryption softwarethat is free on the internet. It also says it's losing billions in sales because of BitTorrent tracking services like The Pirate Bay that allow users to upload and download decrypted movies and other content for free.

Weeks ago, RealNetworks caught Hollywood by surprise when it privately informed the studios of RealDVD. The studios were surprised because DVDs are encrypted with the content-scramble system licensed by the DVD Copy Control Associationto prevent them from being copied.

The association is a group consisting of electronics and computer manufacturers, and Hollywood studios. They are already engaged in ongoing litigation with Kaleidescape, a Silicon Valley upstart whose $10,000 box allows customers to store and replicate 1,360 DVDs.

The lawsuits begs the question of whether it is legal to copy an encrypted DVD for personal use. The courts have not squarely decided the issue as applied to CDs or DVDs, although the music and movie industry oppose copying.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act says descrambling or circumventing encryption is a violation of up to $2,500 per DVD. RealDVD and Kaleidescape allow users to make a persistent copy still in its original encrypted form stored. They and other similar services saytheir wares prevent the movies from being uploaded to torrent trackers.

For its part, the MPAA is expected to announce its RealDVD legal tactics later today.

Photo: john_a_ward

See Also:

• Hollywood Control of DVD-Copying at Crossroads
• Copyright Czar's Fate in Bush's Hands; Veto Looms
• Judge: Copyright Owners Must Consider 'Fair Use' Before Sending ...
• Meet the Latest Copyright Scofflaw -- Meet the GOP
• Judge Declares Mistrial in RIAA-Jammie Thomas Trial
• File Sharing Lawsuits at a Crossroads, After 5 Years of RIAA ...
• Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction?
• Meet the Latest Copyright Scofflaw -- Meet the GOP

Full post as published by Threat Level on September 30, 2008 (boomark / email).