“The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.” So says the warning on all movies released since early 2004. Well, granted many get a bit of a chuckle every time they pop a movie into their player and see that flash across their screen knowing they’ve just downloaded it from somewhere on the ‘Net, but still...it’s the thought that counts. And apparently, the thought of RealNetworks is that they want to make it a little easier for their customers to burn those dvds; since they are coming out with a new product called RealDVD which allows users to burn a digital copy of the movie of your choice...ummmm..legally? Guess that remains to be seen. Because there hasn’t been enough chatter about the whole piracy/fair use thing lately.
They’ve got to be banking on the whole Kaleidescape victory (which granted is still kind of up in the air at this point), which allows users to copy DVDs for their own use. I don’t know that this will help the MPAA to turn a blind eye however. But RealNetworks is quick to point out that they are in fact respecting all copyright laws since they don’t strip out the DVDs CSS, and they also add an additional layer of DRM to the copied files, making sure it can only be played on the computer it was originally copied to. (you can pay additional money to be able to play it on up to four additional computers). RealDVD doesn’t just copy the video track from the DVD, it’s able to get into some kind of metadata server...adding movie descriptors, posters, all of it.
The Windows applications, due out today, will cost you $30 now...and $50 if you wait to get it down the road apparently. Not that anyone is thinking that RealNetworks is taking this reeeally risking step due to some floundering financial situations. Oh wait...they do. An executive at a major studio, who declined to be named due to the legal delicacy of the matter, predicted that many are going to resist RealDVD in a big way. He also questioned the real motives behind it. “When so much of their success depends on having reasonable relationships with content owners, you wonder why they would be quite so bold in doing this, unless they are desperate,” this executive said. After all, RealNetworks shiny star has been overshadowed in a rather big way as of late by other digital media companies including Apple and Amazon. Their stock has fallen sharply in the last two years. This just may be the easy hit they are looking for. If, as some are predicting, they don’t find themselves slapped with a lawsuit instead.
Via [techmeme]
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