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.
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Filed Under: dvd ripping, injunctions, realdvd
Companies: mpaa, realnetworks


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  1. identicon
    Idiot, 6 Oct 2008 @ 2:10am

    "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."

    RealSmart of them. Take in out of Hollywood's backyard and put it in Silicon Valley's backyard. :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2008 @ 2:29am

    Re:

    Agreed.

    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 thread ]

  3. identicon
    Grem135, 6 Oct 2008 @ 4:43am

    Nice

    very nice Jeff, who needs realdvd anyway...lol

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    nullop, 6 Oct 2008 @ 5:31am

    Well said Jeff. I've gotten by very well without any Real warez yet...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Ima Fish, 6 Oct 2008 @ 5:31am

    Wow, who has really used Real software in the last ten years? Sure, there was a time back in the 90s when you basically needed it to access video and music online, those days are way gone.

    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 thread ]

  6. identicon
    Overcast, 6 Oct 2008 @ 6:28am

    Too bad - it was the only software out there that could copy DVD's!!!!

    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 thread ]

  7. identicon
    John Stottlemire, 6 Oct 2008 @ 7:08am

    Who told that lie?

    Reliance on what others report is not always the best thing to do.

    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 thread ]

  8. identicon
    Baloney Joe, 6 Oct 2008 @ 9:04am

    Re: Re:

    wow aren't you cool with all your airport designations...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Svetainiu kurimas, 6 Oct 2008 @ 10:31am

    svetainiu kurimas

    Ima fish , you ar right

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2008 @ 10:51am

    Thats ok. There are plenty of free DVD copy software out there anyway.

    The MPAA can kiss my ass

    Not 1 cent!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    Mike (profile), 6 Oct 2008 @ 5:16pm

    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 thread ]

  12. identicon
    John Stottlemire, 6 Oct 2008 @ 6:03pm

    Re: Re: Who told that lie?

    Yes, I've read the reports as well. Guess I'm mistaken. My apologies.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    Svetainiø kûrimas (profile), 12 Oct 2009 @ 12:02am

    No way Jose

    if the time, energy and overheads of tracking these infringements where minused from the pricing of this comodity the problem of piracy would almost anihilate itself.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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