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RealNetworks, Film Industry Headed To Court

Posted by timothy on from the in-your-face-film-industry dept.

netbuzz writes "Apparently tired of waiting to be sued by the movie studios over its new DVD-to-PC copying software, RealNetworks this morning announced it will file a preemptive lawsuit in an attempt to authoritatively establish that the product does not infringe on copyright restrictions. Within an hour or so, the Motion Picture Association of America said it would have a litigation announcement of its own this afternoon."

6 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Whuh? by David+Gerard · · Score: 4, Informative

    When did Real become non-evil?

    (RealPlayer for Linux is actually a really good media player. Works well, plays everything, none of the quasi-spyware behaviour it was famous for on Windows. CULTURE SHOCK!)

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
  2. Great! by TheSpoom · · Score: 5, Informative

    *continues to use DVD Shrink for free anyway since it has no DRM*

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs
    1. Re:Great! by Taibhsear · · Score: 4, Informative

      *cough*thepiratebay*cough*dvddecrypter*cough*anydvd*cough*magiciso*cough*
      Ahem, excuse me. Had a bout of whooping cough there for a second...

  3. Re:wait just a minute here by Kamots · · Score: 4, Informative

    You misread. You pay "$20 per computer" that you want ALL of your ripped DVDs to play on. It's per additional computer that you want authorized to get past thier own DRM crap.

  4. Speaking as a once paying customer of Real by thermian · · Score: 5, Informative

    I bought RealJukebox and really liked it. The license said I had access to upgrades for the lifetime of the product. This purchase included the full version of RealPlayer too, with no adverts.

    Then they changed the license terms within months (at the time they introduced OnePlayer) and said I had to repurchase at full price if I wanted to upgrade to OnePlayer. Oh, and they discontinued RealJukebox, and I wasn't allowed to update my copy of standalone realplayer either without paying the full licence fee again.

    I wouldn't have minded a small upgrade fee I guess, although I would have grumbled, but I paid a fair bit for my original licence, and I was pissed off that it got junked so fast.

    The chances of my paying for or using a RealNetworks product again are pretty much nonexistant.

    --
    A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
  5. That's what Red Hat did to SCO by Xtifr · · Score: 4, Informative

    When SCO was going around saying they were going to sue Linux users for vague, unspecified "IP" claims, Red Hat preemptively sued SCO, telling them, essentially, to put-up-or-shut-up about their claims.

    http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=169 (from 2003).