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RealDVD's countersuit against the MPAA has been dismissed. RealDVD cited that Hollywood's use of DRM on DVDs makes them a 'cartel', using DRM to prevent products like RealDVD from being legally sold, but the judge dismissed the claims saying that there is no harm being done towards Real Networks by Hollywood studios, and that the only harm is caused by the infringing product, RealDVD.
On the surface, Real's claims are accurate, in that the long hacked and ineffective CSS copy protection scheme found on DVDs now serve the main purpose of acting as a licencing "gate", to generate income as well as to prevent use of the DVD in ways that Hollywood does not approve of, whether that's by companies like Real Networks, or by the consumer. RealDVD does not remove the CSS copy protection found on DVDs, and in fact adds its own extra layer of DRM to prevent further copying, and as such, one might argue that a RealDVD "ripped" DVD has stronger copy protection than the original DVD.
Further adding to possible anti-competitive behaviour is Hollywood's own pursuit of a "Managed Copy" system that will act in a similar manner to RealDVD, in that it will provide user the ability to make copies of their own purchased movies, but still with DRM to prevent further copying and distribution. Hollywood is expecting to make money from offering Managed Copy, money that would otherwise have been made by Real Networks from the RealDVD product.
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On the surface, Real's claims are accurate, in that the long hacked and ineffective CSS copy protection scheme found on DVDs now serve the main purpose of acting as a licencing "gate", to generate income as well as to prevent use of the DVD in ways that Hollywood does not approve of, whether that's by companies like Real Networks, or by the consumer. RealDVD does not remove the CSS copy protection found on DVDs, and in fact adds its own extra layer of DRM to prevent further copying, and as such, one might argue that a RealDVD "ripped" DVD has stronger copy protection than the original DVD.
Further adding to possible anti-competitive behaviour is Hollywood's own pursuit of a "Managed Copy" system that will act in a similar manner to RealDVD, in that it will provide user the ability to make copies of their own purchased movies, but still with DRM to prevent further copying and distribution. Hollywood is expecting to make money from offering Managed Copy, money that would otherwise have been made by Real Networks from the RealDVD product.
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