Hollywood vs. the $30 DVD copier

[jkwest]

Hollywood vs. the $30 DVD copier

LAST week saw the start of a trial that pitches Hollywood studios against the technology industry, and whose outcome could change the face of home entertainment. The trial, in San Francisco, centres on a $30 software package published last year called RealDVD (www.realdvd.com).

RealDVD, marketed by RealNetworks, allows DVD owners to copy their discs onto a computer or laptop. RealNetworks insists that RealDVD is not a hacker's tool, because it not only maintains a DVD's copy protection technology (known as Content Scramble System, or CSS), but adds an additional layer of digital rights management technology that, in effect, locks the copied DVD to the hard drive.

Users can't copy, upload or export the DVD copy. RealNetworks argues that the software allows consumers to carry their DVDs on a laptop while leaving the original discs behind, or file DVDs by, say, title or genre. "Consumers expect flexibility with the digital content they've purchased," says Rob Glaser, RealNetworks' chief executive.

RealDVD offers the same features that millions of people are using today with music libraries such as iTunes. But Hollywood is keen to protect the DVD market, which last year was worth almost $US22 billion ($A30billion) in the US. The Motion Picture Association of America (www.mpaa.org), which is representing six big studios (including Disney and Sony) in the trial, has described RealDVD as "StealDVD" and says that it opens the way for consumers to illegally copy DVDs. It cites the "3R" scenario - rent, rip and return - whereby consumers could rent DVDs, use RealDVD to copy them, and then return the original. In October, the MPAA won a temporary restraining order, forcing RealDVD off the market.

The DVD Copy Control Association, which licenses CSS, is also suing RealNetworks. The MPAA and DCCA allege that RealDVD falls foul of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it an offence to publish tools that could be used to circumvent copy protection technology.

RealNetworks' defence is that RealDVD strengthens DVD copy protection. Some observers, such as Fred von Lohmann, a senior lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://eff.org), think Hollywood is fighting a losing battle: "I'm not sure what alternate version of reality the MPAA is living in, but consumers have been able to copy DVDs for a long time, thanks to free, widely available DVD rippers," he says.

Hollywood says it has introduced features to its discs such as Digital Copy, which allows users to copy DVDs onto a hard drive, although in much lower resolution and with digital rights management constraints.

"Our industry will continue on this path because it gives consumers greater choices ... However, we will vigorously defend our right to stop companies from bringing products to market that ... clearly violate the law," says the MPAA.

But FreedomWorks Foundation, a free market champion, has published a report on the case by its chief economist, Wayne Brough, which says it "will do little to achieve its stated goal of curbing DVD piracy and protecting intellectual property. Instead, if it wins, (it) would set a dangerous precedent in hampering competition and technological innovation in one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy."

The trial is presided over by Judge Marilyn Patel, who was also involved in the original Napster case.

In that trial, she ruled in favour of the music industry, but it remains to be seen whether the film industry will achieve the same result.

so...depending on the ruling, do you think a program like this will help, or, hurt Blu-ray?

will it make people want to buy DVD's more or the versatility of copying to a laptop, or will it hurt the sales and drive people to pirate more?

Mod note: I cleared this with a mod already, and it was deemed acceptable to post.

[Rblu-Dblu]

Any program designed to copy a dvd is going to be abused. Even if it's just the guy who rents the movie to copy it to his laptop. There are worse programs out there however that will allow you to copy the movie and burn it to disc.
I would tell the movie industry to run with this program. At least this way they may be able to limit the number of copies being made off of each disc. Similar to the way some cd's are protected.

[neos_peace]

I personly don't see this being a hurt toward Blu-ray. Mainly because the articale says it helps maintain DVD quality. Well lets see here why do we all go against DVD, cuz Blu-ray is better then DVD in so many respects. SO why would people go backwards just for the sake of tranfers to PC. the quality isn't getting better it's just being alterted to an extent that doens't hurt Blu-ray. Just my 2cents.

[ronjones]

This is pretty much a repeat of the case against 321 Studios a few years ago over their product DVD Xcopy. As I recall it eventually went either to the US Federal Appeals Court or perhaps all the way to the US Supreme Court where it was ruled they were in violation of the Millineum Copyright Act (MCA). They had sold their product for making backup copies of you own DVD library and warned against making copies of DVD you don't own and the duplicate DVD their software produced could not itself be recopied. Didn't matter, their software broke the encryption of the original DVD and this was ruled illegal under the MCA.

[MarkJ801]

Pfft, there's already a bunch of programs that will copy a dvd or blu-ray to your computer, and removed the drm/css.

Just like itunes where you can pay to download music, there will still be the numerous people who download music free through torrents/p2p.

So overall, I don't see how this program will encourage piracy, if anything it will do what itunes did. Except I don't know why anyone would want to use RealNetwork, yuck.

[tlmaclennan]

Why are they going after this? IMO they should be focussing on Slysoft and their AnyDVD software. How is that even legal?

[fatediesel]

I've just never understood why it's fine to take music off a CD and put it on your computer but not a movie. Yesterday was a rare example of a time I watched a movie on my Ipod Touch (4 1/2 riding in a car) and there were numerous movies I owned that I would have liked to watch but couldn't because they didn't have a digital copy. I know there are programs to take a DVD and rip them onto a computer but I didn't feel like putting in the time.

[Septimus Prime]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I've just never understood why it's fine to take music off a CD and put it on your computer but not a movie. Yesterday was a rare example of a time I watched a movie on my Ipod Touch (4 1/2 riding in a car) and there were numerous movies I owned that I would have liked to watch but couldn't because they didn't have a digital copy. I know there are programs to take a DVD and rip them onto a computer but I didn't feel like putting in the time.

It wasn't always the case with music either, though. The RIAA fought tooth and nail to make it illegal but failed.

[master_8ball]

I say if you buy it, you have every right to copy it to your PC, hard drive connected to PS3, Ipod or whatever. As long as you don't make a profit from it or give it away it should be no problem.

As others have said programs have been around for the last 10 years that can do this. DVD Shrink is the first one that comes to my mind.

If Hollywood wants to stop losing money they should start looking at the crap they put out instead of complaining how people don't want to pay money for it.

And I am now apparently an expert in something.

[reiella]

Originally Posted by tlmaclennan

Why are they going after this? IMO they should be focussing on Slysoft and their AnyDVD software. How is that even legal?

I believe, it's legal in the country of origin for Slysoft. The software itself, legal to import, but illegal to use in that matter.

[tlmaclennan]

Ah, I wasn't aware that they were not of American origin. Well with the recent attack on ThePirateBay I wouldn't be suprised to see the studios go after Slysoft.

[RobertSprenger]

Originally Posted by master_8ball

I say if you buy it, you have every right to copy it to your PC, hard drive connected to PS3, Ipod or whatever. As long as you don't make a profit from it or give it away it should be no problem.

As others have said programs have been around for the last 10 years that can do this. DVD Shrink is the first one that comes to my mind.

If Hollywood wants to stop losing money they should start looking at the crap they put out instead of complaining how people don't want to pay money for it.

And I am now apparently an expert in something.

You hit the nail on the head, the music industry is in the same boat - lower sales actually mean crappier material coming thru. There people who do back up movies for legitimate reasons and when I go on trips it's nice to have a few with me without lugging discs. I have a collection way past 2000 & maybe getting a media center with this program would save all that room that those take up. I already have a program which does backup discs but one that would catalog & get info would be just icing on the cake. You'd have to be either ridiculously OCD or just obscenely sheltered to really think that the people who pirate aren't doing so already & that this program is going to really contribute to an industry being pirated from the inside anyways.

But if Real does lose, they should move their operations out-of-country & do what SlySoft & all the others do over the internet. It's never going to go away, the MPAA is fighting a losing battle just like the RIAA & subsidiaries.

Make better movies, no more barebones discs, just a few of the less sunny points of our dvd universe. The consumer is smarter & expects more for their dollars. Just throwing a disc out there isn't going to cut it. Start clearing back catalogs & raid the vaults & put a few bucks into releasing, everyone should follow Disney's example or Criterion. Studios can complain that they lose money but they need to find more efficient ways to market & produce, having a crew of 200 just isn't feasible anymore. If they follow this, smiles will be aplenty on the studio lots & on people's face on the way out of a store or post box with their prizes awaiting to be enjoyed

[dialog_gvf]

The irony is that all the publishers of such programs are always whining about how often their software is being pirated.

Slysoft went to subscription model for this reason.