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Earlier in the year, Real Networks received a blow in its legal battle with the MPAA over the fate of the DVD copying program RealDVD, after the court issued an injunction against the sale of RealDVD pending a verdict in the trial.
Now, Real will try to appeal the verdict, although experts say that they do not have much of a chance.
Real first got into trouble by selling RealDVD, a software which copied the DVD from the original disc to the hard-drive, a process known as ripping. But unlike the myriad of illegal rippers out there, RealDVD attempted to please the content owners by not removing the CSS copy protection from the DVD and went further by adding a few more layers. The resulting "ripped" DVD was then only playable on Real's own Facet player software, which has a system to limit the number of computers that the ripped movie will play on, and thus, prevent illegal sharing of the DVD. But despite these precautions, Hollywood was not happy and the MPAA quickly launched a lawsuit against Real Networks. An injunction was granted to the MPAA to immediately stop the sale of RealDVD, and it is this injunction that Real Networks is trying to overturn.
Even if RealDVD is unsuccessful in the appeal, they will go on with the trial by jury, and it could still be a long time before the fate of RealDVD is settled.
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Now, Real will try to appeal the verdict, although experts say that they do not have much of a chance.
Real first got into trouble by selling RealDVD, a software which copied the DVD from the original disc to the hard-drive, a process known as ripping. But unlike the myriad of illegal rippers out there, RealDVD attempted to please the content owners by not removing the CSS copy protection from the DVD and went further by adding a few more layers. The resulting "ripped" DVD was then only playable on Real's own Facet player software, which has a system to limit the number of computers that the ripped movie will play on, and thus, prevent illegal sharing of the DVD. But despite these precautions, Hollywood was not happy and the MPAA quickly launched a lawsuit against Real Networks. An injunction was granted to the MPAA to immediately stop the sale of RealDVD, and it is this injunction that Real Networks is trying to overturn.
Even if RealDVD is unsuccessful in the appeal, they will go on with the trial by jury, and it could still be a long time before the fate of RealDVD is settled.
More:
