In Response To Restraining Order, Real Networks Pulls RealDVD

eldavojohn writes "RealNetworks' product that allows one to copy a DVD containing a movie has been pulled. You may recall us discussing RealDVD and its legal implications." According to the linked BBC report, "RealNetworks — the firm behind the software — has responded to restraining order issued by a US court stopped selling the RealDVD software [sic]. Six major movie studios jointly sued the company on 30 September — the day the software was launched."

Comments

I'm clueless on this, but

[JeanBaptiste]

Isn't there other software that allows you to copy/rip DVDs ?

If there isn't, can I write one and get sued ? At least I'd get my name in the papers...

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[Holmwood]

There is other software -- DVD Decrypter was one popular piece of software. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Decrypter ) In the US, it may or may not be illegal under the DMCA to use such programs to back up your own DVDs. The only controlling legal authority I'm aware of said that doing so was legal, provided it was for personal use, but that distributing software to make this possible was illegal.

Go figure.

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[eldavojohn]

Isn't there other software that allows you to copy/rip DVDs ?

Not commercial. There are open source tools that you can accomplish this with and there are certainly shady products you can find online that aren't supported and probably aren't owned and operated inside the United States. The important thing is that they are not sold at Best Buy nor are they easy to use. I know ways of doing it with Ubuntu but your average person is still mystified that typing something on a command line causes my DVD player to do something.

DVD X Copy comes to mind although I've never used it, that's the most commercial looking stuff I've ever seen. And this is what its site says:

Authentic DVDXCopy software is no longer being sold anywhere.

In response to:

If there isn't, can I write one and get sued ? At least I'd get my name in the papers...

Sir, you need look no further than the RIAA/MPAA to be sued. Why bother writing software when you can simply create a single backup copy of a CD or DVD for your personal use and notify them that you have done so. Your name won't make the papers but you will be sued. I'm certain they will be able to show that since you had it on your computer and your computer was connected to the internet, you were distributing it to several thousand other people who had no legal right in owning it. You won't be sued for the additional price of that media, you will be sued $75,000 because that's how much money you thieved from them! And thus you can be part of the ridiculous system that is digital music today!

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[Zymergy]

AnyDVD and CloneDVD2 are my personal favorites for a ripper/burner.
(The AnyDVD ripper will also rip BlueRay and HD DVD's nicely (if you buy the HD Key for HD) and it can also rip directly to a non-DRM'd DVD or HDDVD/BlueRay image file) :)
http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html
http://www.elby.ch/products/clone_dvd/index.html

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

Yes, there are various freeware and commercial products that let you rip and copy DVDs. I would point you at some websites, but I'm afraid of the Slashdot Effect causing them problems.

DVD Decrypter hasn't been updated in years because it's author was given a choice between facing a very expensive lawsuit or turning over the code and stopping work on it. He chose the latter. DVD Decrypter works fine on most DVDs, but not all.

AnyDVD is a commercial ripper that works on all DVDs and is updated regularly.

DVDFab HD Decrypter is a commercial ripper that works on all DVDs and is updated regularly. There is a free version available, but it may not be very useful to novices.

Once you rip a DVD, various programs can be used to burn it. One of the best is ImgBurn, which is freeware.

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[homes32]

Isn't there other software that allows you to copy/rip DVDs ?

Not commercial. There are open source tools that you can accomplish this with and there are certainly shady products you can find online that aren't supported and probably aren't owned and operated inside the United States. The important thing is that they are not sold at Best Buy nor are they easy to use. I know ways of doing it with Ubuntu but your average person is still mystified that typing something on a command line causes my DVD player to do something.

I disagree. AnyDVD and DVDFAB Decrypter are straight forward and extremely easy to use, (1-2 button click) and have a pretty decent support base. Although you can't find them at Best Buy...

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[nurb432]

Personally, i don't care if its illegal ( which it is if you break the encryption to do it ) to back up my own DVDs.

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[0100010001010011]

Some code snippets for you.
(from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/)

#!/usr/bin/perl
# 472-byte qrpff, Keith Winstein and Marc Horowitz <sipb-iap-dvd@mit.edu>
# MPEG 2 PS VOB file -> descrambled output on stdout.
# usage: perl -I <k1>:<k2>:<k3>:<k4>:<k5> qrpff
# where k1..k5 are the title key bytes in least to most-significant order

s''$/=\2048;while(<>){G=29;R=142;if((@a=unqT="C*",_)[20]&48){D=89;_=unqb24,qT,@
b=map{ord qB8,unqb8,qT,_^$a[--D]}@INC;s/...$/1$&/;Q=unqV,qb25,_;H=73;O=$b[4]<<9
|256|$b[3];Q=Q>>8^(P=(E=255)&(Q>>12^Q>>4^Q/8^Q))<<17,O=O>>8^(E&(F=(S=O>>14&7^O)
^S*8^S<<6))<<9,_=(map{U=_%16orE^=R^=110&(S=(unqT,"\xb\ntd\xbz\x14d")[_/16%8]);E
^=(72,@z=(64,72,G^=12*(U-2?0:S&17)),H^=_%64?12:0,@z)[_%8]}(16..271))[_]^((D>>=8
)+=P+(~F&E))for@a[128..$#a]}print+qT,@a}';s/[D-HO-U_]/\$$&/g;s/q/pack+/g;eval

#include<stdlib.h>
typedef unsigned int uint;
char ctb[512]="33733b2663236b763e7e362b6e2e667bd393db0643034b96de9ed60b4e0e4\
69b57175f82c787cf125a1a528fca8ac21fd999d10049094190d898d001480840913d7d35246\
d2d65743c7c34256c2c6475dd9dd5044d0d4594dc9cd4054c0c449559195180c989c11058185\
081c888c011d797df0247074f92da9ad20f4a0a429f53135b86c383cb165e1e568bce8ec61bb\
3f3bba6e3a3ebf6befeb6abeeaee6fb37773f2267276f723a7a322f6a2a627fb9f9b1a0e9a9e\
1f0b8f8b0a1e8a8e0f15d1d5584cd8dc5145c1c5485cc8cc415bdfdb5a4edade5f4bcfcb4a5e\
cace4f539793120692961703878302168286071b7f7bfa2e7a7eff2bafab2afeaaae2ff";
typedef unsigned char uchar;uint tb0[11]={5,0,1,2,3,4,0,1,2,3,4};uchar* F=NULL;
uint lf0,lf1,out;void ReadKey(uchar* key){int i;char hst[3]; hst[2]=0;if(F==\
NULL){F=malloc(256);for(i=0;i<256;i++){hst[0]=ctb[2*i];hst[1]=ctb[2*i+1];F[i]=\
strtol(hst,NULL,16);}}out=0;lf0=(key[1]<<9)|key[0]|0x100;lf1=(key[4]<<16)|(key\
[3]<<8)|key[2];lf1=((lf1&0xfffff8)<<1)|(lf1&0x7)|0x8;}uchar Cipher(int sw1,\
int sw2){int i,a,b,x=0,y=0;for(i=0;i<8;i++){a=((lf0>>2)^(lf0>>16))&1;b=((lf1\
>>12)^(lf1>>20)^(lf1>>21)^(lf1>>24))&1;lf0=(lf0<<1)|a;lf1=(lf1<<1)|b;x=(x>>1)\
|(a<<7);y=(y>>1)|(b<<7);}x^=sw1;y^=sw2;return out=(out>>8)+x+y;} void \
CSSdescramble(uchar *sec,uchar *key){uint i;uchar *end=sec+0x800;uchar KEY[5];
for(i=0;i<5;i++)KEY[i]=key[i]^sec[0x54+i];ReadKey(KEY);sec+=0x80;while(sec!=\
end)*sec++=F[*sec]^Cipher(255,0);}void CSStitlekey1(uchar *key,uchar *im)
{uchar k[5];int i; ReadKey(im);for(i=0;i<5;i++)k[i]=Cipher(0,0);for(i=9;i>=0;\
i--)key[tb0[i+1]]=k[tb0[i+1]]^F[key[tb0[i+1]]]^key[tb0[i]];}void CSStitlekey2\
(uchar *key,uchar *im){uchar k[5];int i;ReadKey(im);for(i=0;i<5;i++)k[i]=\
Cipher(0,255);for(i=9;i>=0;i--)key[tb0[i+1]]=k[tb0[i+1]]^F[key[tb0[i+1]]]^key\
[tb0[i]];}void CSSdecrypttitlekey(uchar *tkey,uchar *dkey){int i;uchar im1[6];
uchar im2[6]={0x51,0x67,0x67,0xc5,0xe0,0x00};for(i=0;i<6;i++)im1[i]=dkey[i];
CSStitlekey1(im1,im2);CSStitlekey2(tkey,im1);}

Re:I'm clueless on this, but

[jasen666]

CloneDVD? It's simple to use and not a shady product. Works pretty damn well actually.

Working together

[iamwhoiamtoday]

See? The big companies CAN work together when they want to. I'm honestly surprised that 6 major movie companies could work together without backstabbing each other. On a related note: When it comes to DVD ripping... just use "Handbrake" (google it. open-source ripping software)

Re:Working together

[Dr. Manhattan]

When it comes to DVD ripping... just use "Handbrake"

Or, if you want something that'll play in a standard DVD player, k9copy. I have young kids, and for some weird reasons I haven't bought them and video iPods. Backing up their DVDs is kind of a must.

Re:Working together

[Dog-Cow]

If I had a choice between buying kids and video iPods, I'd pick the iPods any day.

Re:Working together

[Dr. Manhattan]

Curse you, spellcheck! :->

maybe there were other motives...

[ChienAndalu]

I mean, have you ever *used* a Real(TM) product? Maybe the film studios only want to protect us...

Why this one?

[sTERNKERN]

I can count several other program doing exactly the same job and there are some which are not freeware but can be bought. Probably only because they got too much attention?

DVD decrypter + nero

[ionix5891]

just use an old copy if DVD decrypter floating around and Nero

to copy DVDs to other DVS's or mp4 files

How to rip DVDs for nothing

[DrXym]

DVDs are easy to rip. Commercial tools like AnyDVD and Nero Recode make a good job but you can do it for nothing quite easily.

1. Install DVD Decrypter. Google for it
2. Install Handbrake
3. Rip DVD with Decrypter to a folder on the HDD
4. Run Handbrake, choose DVD folder
5. Select main movie feature or anything else
6. Tweak bitrate and other settings and / or pick a target device (iPod, PS3, 360 etc.)
7. Click Start
8. Wait a bit, shiny digital copy pops out

Handbrake is a front end over xvid and x264 encoders so you get either an MPEG-2 ASP (DiVX) or H264 AVC file from the process. Depending on your target device you might want to choose one or the other or fiddle with the other settings but the defaults are pretty sane if you don't know what you are doing.

Sure the process might skip supplementals and there may be edge cases with alternate tracks or subtitles that require more effort but x264 is an excellent encoder and the quality is very good. I really don't see why anybody would want to use RealDVD when it DRMs the resulting movie in the process.

Who am I supposed to hate more?

[Quiet_Desperation]

This is Sauron versus Palpatine. Is there a good guy? Don't think so.

Re:Who am I supposed to hate more?

[MobyDisk]

Except that in this case, Real Networks is doing the right thing.

Re:Who am I supposed to hate more?

[Sloppy]

The problem with laughing at injustice to assholes, is that some day you will be the asshole. (And in Soviet Russia, asshole laughs at you.)

Re:What, No Balls??

[the eric conspiracy]

Huh? You mean ignore a restraining order? That would be totally suicidal. Coming out with the product in the first place is pretty ballsy, and I think Real should be congratulated for that move.

Fine.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll stick with DVD Decrypter and DVD2One, then.
 
I'd be more than happy to have a DRM-locked archive on my external hard disk, still with the content protection intact, but oh no, I have to reach behind me, search through the 200 or so properly licensed DVD's stacked in the bookcase behind me for the one I want, open the case, find that I put it back in the wrong box / brother borrowed it and it's not there, go hunting around the house for it, find it under a stack of papers on my desk, and finally get to watch the damn thing 45 minutes after I wanted to, when I more than likely no longer have time.
 
Sometimes, I think they just do it out of spite. They do it because they can.
 
I don't think i'll buy any more DVD's. It's too much hassle.

Nobody with a brain used that crap anyway

[InspectorxGadget]

1. (DVD) -> DVD Decrypter -> MeGUI, X264 -> Done.

2. (BD) -> DVDFAB -> TsMuxeR -> MeGUI, X264 -> Done.

3. (CD) -> Exact Audio Copy -> FLAC -8 -> Done.

Next question.

Re:Nobody with a brain used that crap anyway

[xstonedogx]

Next question.

8-Track?

Re:Nobody with a brain used that crap anyway

[rugatero]

8-Track -> Line-in -> Audacity -> Vorbis -> Done.

Re:Nobody with a brain used that crap anyway

[HiVizDiver]

Holy crap, that's awesome. My dad was the original h4x0r... he actually wired up a reel-to-reel in the family van and would play music on it while we roadtripped to visit my grandparents in Florida. His music of choice? "Alabama", "The Statler Brothers", and John Philip Sousa marches. It's a wonder to me, sometimes, that I even made it to adulthood. Might explain some things, too. 0_o

Re:Nobody with a brain used that crap anyway

[lattyware]

1. TPB -> Deluge -> Done.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:[sic]?

[ameyer17]

Because someone thought

RealNetworks -- the firm behind the software -- has responded to restraining order issued by a US court stopped selling the RealDVD software

is grammatically incorrect and wanted to say "The BBC screwed up, we're just directly quoting them".
Whether it's correct or not, it doesn't sound quite right to me.

Because it's the AUDIO Home Recording Act.

[dpbsmith]

I'm guessing it's because it's the audio home recording act and this is video.

Having owned a home audio CD recorder for many years, I can tell you that the AHRA was an interesting compromise. Home audio CD recorders do not accept standard CD-R media, but require special "audio" or "music" CD-R media that contains some encoded information that tells the recorder that it's an "audio CD-R."

The system also incorporated a technical mechanism that allowed for only first-generation bit-for-bit digital copying--you could make a bit-for-bit copy of a commercial original, but you couldn't copy the copy. (The machines, however, make a really excellent analog copy of a digital copy).

It was, I thought, really acceptable. It made casual copying convenient, you paid a quite reasonable amount for doing it, you were paying for the copy and not "pirating."

Manufacturers of audio CD-R media are required to pay a small amount of money to an agency that divvies it up between artists and music publishers.

One of the things that pushed me over the edge into a raging anti-RIAA crank was that when they started fooling around with "copy-protected" CDs, they made them uncopiable in audio home CD recorders.

In other words, here I was, an honest user, paying for every copy and keeping my end of the deal, and there they were, reneging on the deal.

I'm now utterly opposed to DRM because I'm convinced that the publishers cannot be trusted to limit themselves to enforcing rights that they actually possess. When allowed to use technical means to enforce their rights, they always overreach. They do not possess a six-year-old's sense of basic fair play.

You know what would be a great act of spite?

[MikeRT]

"Oops, someone broke into our network and stole the source code to RealDVD. Guess it's out of our hands now!"

Re:Surprise?

[Dog-Cow]

Who in the UK doesn't have a region-ignoring player? You need better educated friends, perhaps.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Correction

[Anonymous Coward]

I blame your legal system if you live somewhere you actually need to add "The foregoing is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer" to a forum post to safeguard yourself against litigation.

Ulterior Motive?

[m509272]

Perhaps there is an ulterior motive? Is this some collaborative ploy to get DVD fair-use copying to be officially declared illegal?

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[account_deleted]

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Re:The Controlling Legal Authority is the DMCA

[Peter Simpson]

Well, every time you use a licensed player to play a DVD, you (legally) circumvent or bypass the encryption (otherwise, you could not view the DVD you paid for)

It comes down to the term "circumvent", which is defined in the DMCA as:

"...to `circumvent a technological measure' means to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner..."

I call your attention to the phrase "descramble a scrambled work...without the authority of the copyright owner" in the above quote.

Does viewing a DVD under Linux, for example, using a non-approved decrypter, constitute circumvention, or, have you, by virtue of your purchase of the DVD, received an implicit license from the copyright owner to view the content? Did you receive a license to view the content *only* on licensed playback devices? If so, where is that restriction listed on the media you purchased?

Re:What, No Balls??

[BobMcD]

Going to a gun fight with a knife is pretty ballsy too, but I'm not sure "congratulations" are the first thought that would be offered to such an act.

Inside or outside 21 feet?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Drill

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Ugh. You're going to make me CITE this?

[fugue]

I love the phrases "Congress banned..." and "Congress did not prohibit...". Congress would be quite interested to hear that. Congress is made of people, after all, and they almost never have the tiniest clue as to how their laws will be interpreted by trained nit-pickers. The idea that they did any of this intentionally is farcical. A more realistic phrase would be something like "Due to a bizarre, completely unanticipated technicality in over-analysed legalese, we are not allowed to ..."

This reminds me of literary analysis. People will get PhDs writing about what some 300-year-old poem really meant, but they never think to ask the poet (ouija boards have come a long way...). Only in this case people are actually affected by this literarary masturbation.

Re:What, No Balls??

[tzjanii]

Am I the only one who thought that link would lead to some sort of gun that shot knives?

...

No one?

Re:Ugh. You're going to make me CITE this?

[LordLucless]

"No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title."

That's awesome then. All we need to do is train monkeys in decryption techniques and we're set!