Judge Temporarily Blocks Sale Of RealDVD
from the who-does-this-help? dept
In the lawsuit between the movie studios and RealNetworks over Real's DVD ripping software, RealDVD, it appears that a judge has issued a temporary injunction against Real, keeping the company from distributing the software until the judge has had a chance to read through the various documents. A more complete decision allowing or disallowing the sale prior to a trial should come on Tuesday. Of course, the movie studios will claim that Real should be barred from allowing the software to be sold because it will cause "irreparable harm." That, of course, is ridiculous. Real's software only lets you make limited backups, by putting its own DRM on the copies. If someone really wants to make backups, and Real's software isn't available thanks to an injunction, then they'll most likely get a copy of other DVD ripping software that doesn't even include the limitations that Real's does. In other words, in taking RealDVD off the market, as the studios would like, it actually would probably lead to more movies being copied without DRM than if RealDVD were on the market. On a separate note, it appears that Real's decision to rush to court and file for a declaratory judgment on this case was a wise move. The lawsuit has been moved from Southern California, where the studios filed suit later in the day, to Northern California, where Real filed suit in the morning.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: dvd ripping, injunctions, realdvd
Companies: mpaa, realnetworks
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
RealSmart of them. Take in out of Hollywood's backyard and put it in Silicon Valley's backyard. :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
That doesn't make sense. SFO/SJC/OAK areas seem more focused on implementation, whereas LAX/SNA areas are more focused on production. Then SEA jumps into the mix, who is really the odd man out. Hmm...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
lol
have fun
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nice
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gee, I wonder what other utterly behind the times products Real could come up with?
10. Real Memory Optimizer.
9. Real-Time Hard Drive Compression.
8. Real HD-DVD Ripper
7. Real Explorer, a GUI file management system.
6. Real Name-it, enable long file names in 16 bit operating systems!
5. Real Blu-ray Ripper (Coming in 2018!)
4. Real Browser, a shell for IE 4.0, allowing for tabbed browsing!
3. Real Fragged, a fully 32 bit disc defragger for Fat32 drives up to 1 gigabyte.
2. Real Audio, for Warp OS/2
1. RealDOS, a fully 32 bit DOS replacement.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
lol
Regardless, again - the MPAA trying to even keep me from making copies of my own DVD's is BS. If they want to stop people from making backup copies, they should offer free replacement DVD's if mine gets scratched.
Until that point, keeping people from making copies of their own movies is complete BS.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Who told that lie?
The case is currently before Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd and the TRO was filed with the Court on Friday (October 3, 2008). A ruling on the TRO has not been handed down by the court. Although RealDVD may no longer be available, a Judge DID NOT temporarily block the sale of RealDVD.
The entire Docket of this case is available on Justia http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-candce/case_no-5:2008cv04548/case_id-207595/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Who told that lie?
The case is currently before Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd and the TRO was filed with the Court on Friday (October 3, 2008). A ruling on the TRO has not been handed down by the court. Although RealDVD may no longer be available, a Judge DID NOT temporarily block the sale of RealDVD.
Actually, reports are coming out saying that a TRO absolutely was granted, but under seal:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/judges-top-secr.html
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Who told that lie?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
svetainiu kurimas
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The MPAA can kiss my ass
Not 1 cent!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No way Jose
[ link to this | view in chronology ]