Real jumped through hoops to satisfy that point. The Seattle company says it preserves the encryption that prevents the copying of a DVD, and then layers on its own scheme for protecting the content. Digital copies can't be made outside RealDVD. The copy made by the software could not be distributed.
Still, the studios also claim that RealDVD is "using authorized technology for an unauthorized purpose." The trouble is that two courts have ruled that does not violate the DMCA, argues Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group critical of today's copy regimes.
"According to those courts," he writes, "if someone gives you a password, and then you use it in an unauthorized way, there's no DMCA 'circumvention.' "
The protections that RealDVD added drew criticism from many reviewers, who said the software compared unfavorably to widely available DVD ripping programs. But those programs don't even try to meet the contractual demands of Hollywood. They simply break a DVD's encryption for what their authors claim is a consumer's right under the Supreme Court's "fair use" decision.
If Real doesn't back down, we may finally find out if they're right.
Hal of SC @ Oct 20, 2008 18:29:53 PM