Judge Says RealDVD is "Almost Certainly Illegal"

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2010-01-12 12:59 PM

Iron Donkey
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Subject: Judge Says RealDVD is "Almost Certainly Illegal"

From SANS (the security news information that I get):

(January 11, 2010)
US District Judge Marilyn Patel has rejected RealNetworks' argument that
the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a "price-fixing
cartel" that prevents the distribution of products capable of decrypting
DVDs.  RealNetworks made the argument in an attempt to convince the
judge to lift a distribution ban on its RealDVD software, which allows
users to copy DVDs to their hard drives.  The MPAA and other plaintiffs
brought the suit against RealNetworks more than a year ago, alleging
that the RealDVD software is illegal because it circumvents legitimate
copyright protection technology.  In rejecting RealNetworks' claim,
Judge Patel wrote that its "purported injury stems from its own decision
to manufacture and traffic in a device that is almost certainly illegal
under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)."  The US legal system
has never directly addressed consumers' rights to make copies of DVDs
they purchase legitimately; the court cases have focused instead on the
technology developers and purveyors.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/judge-slams-mpaa-cartel-allegations/

2010-01-12 1:08 PM
in reply to: #2609909

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Champion
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Subject: RE: Judge Says RealDVD is "Almost Certainly Illegal"

**law school flashback to Sony Betamax case***

 

sounds like a clear case of the law not keeping up with technology.  legislatures write the laws and judges interpret the law, so the judge may be basically prodding the legislature to fix this problem and not wanting to be accused of judicial activism...

2010-01-12 2:42 PM
in reply to: #2609909

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Master
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Subject: RE: Judge Says RealDVD is "Almost Certainly Illegal"
Meanwhile, people continue to use free software to accomplish the task.    Or use software to lift a bit-for-bit copy of the disk, and then use other software to play the iso file. 

Either way, "copyright" is circumvented and the only losers are Real and paying customers.
2010-01-12 3:39 PM
in reply to: #2609909

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Veteran
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Subject: RE: Judge Says RealDVD is "Almost Certainly Illegal"
I wonder if this makes itunes almost certainly illegal because it lets you covert cds to a digital format.
2010-01-12 3:59 PM
in reply to: #2610265

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Pro
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Subject: RE: Judge Says RealDVD is "Almost Certainly Illegal"

Johners - 2010-01-12 3:39 PM I wonder if this makes itunes almost certainly illegal because it lets you covert cds to a digital format.

Apples and Oranges.  CDs ( in the general sense ) do not have copy protection built into them, in the way that DVDs do.  The data is stored, unecrypted, on the CD.  With DVDs, the data is stored on the disc in an encrypted format.  "Authorized" players use a key ( unique to each manufacturer, iirc ) which allows them to decrypt the data on the DVD and access the content.

It's that extra step in there, the decrypting of the data by an 'unauthorized' player, that's at the heart of the issue.

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