So long RealDVD, it's been, uh... real

A US district Court has issued an injunction preventing RealNetworks from selling its RealDVD software. RealDVD is basically a DVD ripper, but unlike most applications that let you crack DVD copy protection and copy videos to your hard drive, RealDVD includes its own DRM scheme which prevents users from making multiple copies or watching ripped movies on another computer or portable device.

RealNetworks had been hoping that these restrictions would help the software survive against any legal claims. After all, the courts have a long history of deciding that you have a right to create backup copies of media you purchase for personal use. Unfortunately, the DCMA circumvents this right by declaring that you can't use technology that circumvents copy-protection.

The long and short of it is that the court ruled against the company because its software violates the DCMA. It's not clear whether RealNetworks will appeal the case. Honestly, I doubt there were throngs of people clamoring to buy copies of RealDVD at $30 a pop when there are plenty of free alternatives that don't restrict what you can do with ripped movies.

But RealNetworks had been hoping to launch a version of the software that could be included on set-top boxes like DVD players that would allow users to insert a disc and save the data to a hard drive so they could browse through their movie collections and watch videos without swapping discs. And that's a feature I could see people spending a few bucks for.

Tags: dmca, dvd-ripper, realdvd