X

Week in review: RealDVD takes the stand

The movie studios' case against the DVD-copying software went to court this week triggering some drama--and a few surprises. Also, a peek at the latest Windows 7 version.

Michelle Meyers
Michelle Meyers wrote and edited CNET News stories from 2005 to 2020 and is now a contributor to CNET.
Michelle Meyers
4 min read

The question of whether consumers will be given a legal means to make copies of DVDs inched closer to an answer this week as a preliminary hearing got under way in the movie studios' case against RealNetwork's DVD-ripping software.

The case before U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel--the same judge who ruled against Napster--was filed last year by the Motion Picture Association of America in an attempt to stop the sale of RealNetwork's RealDVD software. RealDVD lets users copy DVDs to their computer hard drive. The case is being watched closely as it has the potential to lead to an overhaul of Hollywood's DVD business model.

RealDVD

At the heart of case, the MPAA alleges that RealDVD violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) because it bypasses the copy protection built into DVDs. The DMCA prohibits companies from developing products that circumvent antipiracy protections. Real Networks has long denied that the encryption technology is ever cracked by RealDVD.

The hearing got off to a dramatic start last week when Patel temporarily sealed the San Francisco courtroom, buying arguments from MPAA attorneys and the Hollywood-based DVD Copy Control Association that trade secrets might be disclosed during testimony. The courtroom was sealed once again on Wednesday, for the same reasons. CNET News objected in both instances.

Testimony that was heard publicly focused on just how easy RealDVD makes it for people to copy DVDs--and how many times they can do it. The film industry tried to show that the software entrusts RealNetworks with the job of protecting digital film copies from piracy.

The MPAA called up upon a security expert who said RealDVD's copy controls can be altered or removed all together from Real's servers in the form of a software update, and those limits could easily be removed all together by removing just one line of code.

RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser acknowledged that RealDVD could be used to make unauthorized copies of DVD rentals, but the company does all it can to "steer people away from that," including limiting playback of copies to five separate machines. Moreover, he said the problem could be eliminated if the major movie studios helped create a way to identify a movie as a rental.

But perhaps the most revealing testimony from Glaser was about a sort of DVD jukebox the company is working on, codenamed "Facet." Glaser demonstrated the box, which comes equipped with a hard drive and software that enables owners to duplicate DVDs--in a similar fashion as RealDVD--and then store hundreds of movies on the device. Facet may in fact be much more important to Real than RealDVD, the proceeding revealed.

The preliminary hearing in the case is expected to resume at the end of next week.

Also of note

All-electric Mini vs. Ford Fusion hybrid

CNET News' Martin LaMonica road tests two of the latest cars to use electric battery power to improve fuel efficiency.
• Photos: Gas alternatives hit road
May 1, 2009

Photos: From tech exec to politician

See all photos

A Facebook exec's bid for law and order

Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer at the massive social network, talks about his just-announced candidacy in California's 2010 attorney general race.
• Photos: From tech execs to pols
May 1, 2009

Hulu-Disney deal hurts YouTube, helps cable

Hulu now boasts long-form content from three major movie studios. One analyst says Hulu could solve the cable industry's Web problem.
• Disney signs onto Hulu
• Levinsohn: Hollywood, as you know it, is dead
April 30, 2009

Microsoft chugs toward Windows 7 release

A near-final release candidate--expected to be the last public test version--is being given to developers on Thursday. It is slated to be publicly available May 5.
• Images: A peek at Windows 7 release candidate
• Acer exec: Windows 7 available on October 23
April 30, 2009

Apple plots course for middle of mobile

For years, the PC industry has longed to make a compelling device that's bigger than a phone but smaller than a notebook. They have failed. Can Apple pull it off?
April 29, 2009

Obama's transparency vow: Mixed reviews

At 100 days, the administration has made some big steps toward being more Internet-friendly. In other ways, it hasn't yet lived up to the campaign promise.
• Obama's tech agenda on hold
April 29, 2009

Where federal energy research money should go

The Energy Department's new ARPA-E program aims to find "transformational energy technologies" beyond fossil fuels. Here are some offbeat ideas on how it could get started.
April 28, 2009

Images: The house Steve Jobs doesn't want to call home

See all photos

Google crashes Wolfram Alpha debut party

Mathematica maker publicly demonstrates a Web service to dig into data like stock prices or mortality--but Google launches a similar service on the same day.
April 28, 2009

The latest from Facebook: 'Open Stream API'

The social-networking giant will let developers tap into and tinker with the Twitter-like flow of user content that Facebook calls the "stream."
April 27, 2009

More headlines

Senators aim to protect electric grid from hackers

Images: The house Jobs doesn't want to call home

Time Warner: AOL's revenue slide continues

Judge issues extension in Google Book Search settlement

Which smartphone maker isn't Verizon talking to?

Scope of clean energy, climate bills takes shape

Google CEO, Microsoft exec on Obama tech board

Moto Labs screens interactive display concept

Adieu to the old-fashioned desktop computer?