“U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel’s ruling came in a decision in which she declared RealNetworks’ DVD copying software was illegal,” Kravets reports. “She barred it from being distributed.”
“Patel said the RealDVD software violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 that prohibits the circumvention of encryption technology,” Kravets reports. “DVDs are encrypted with what is known as the Content Scramble System, and DVD players must secure a license to play discs. RealDVD, she ruled, circumvents technology designed to prevent copying.”
Kravets reports, “But the decision, although mixed, left open the door that copying DVD’s for personal use ‘may well be’ lawful under the fair use doctrine of the Copyright Act, although trafficking in such goods was illegal.”
“The motion picture studios, which brought the case, argued to Patel that copying a DVD was illegal, even if was for personal use. RealNetworks claimed consumers could make personal copies of their DVDs,” Kravets reports. To be sure, Hollywood lobbied hard for the DMCA, which helped give rise to the encrypted DVD. ‘This is a victory for the creators and producers of motion pictures and television shows and for the rule of law in our digital economy,’ said Dan Glickman, chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America.”
Red more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "TheConfuzed1" for the heads up.]
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