Another Layer of DVD DRM
Guess you just can't have too much DRM. At least not if you believe RealNetwork's CEO Rob Glaser. He's going to help you rip your DVDs to your HD so you can play them on the go. Of course he doesn't touch Hollywood's DRM and in fact goes them one better...he adds his own unique, really cool DRM on top of it. Then when Hollywood says that's not part of our agreement he does the only logical thing...he sues them!!! Life up in Seattle must be a little dull right now.
Rob Glaser, RealNetworks CEO, hasn’t had a lot of winners lately so we bet the idea of helping you copy your Hollywood DVD sounded like a great way to strike it rich…again.
And to ensure you hear about his offer he chose to sue Hollywood before they sue him for his RealDVD copying, backup, archiving, ripping, whatever software.
Nice quiet way to deliver the message!
Sounds great. The $30 software lets you rip a DVD movie to your computer hard drive.
Background to the Offer
The difference between RealDVD and the 30-40 such products you can find on the Web is that:
- Real went and bought a DVD-CCA (DVD-Copy Control Assn) license
- Real proudly says they don’t hack the CSS (Content Scrambling System)
- Real in fact adds another layer (uniquely theirs) of DRM (digital rights management) security
- Real didn’t just introduce RealDVD, Rob paid to toot his horn about it at DEMOFall
- Rob knows that the only thing to prove real credibility is a good lawsuit. He sued ‘em!
RealNetworks used to be the go-to place back in the Web 1.0 days for content.
Today?
Rhapsody is way down the music subscription service food chain well behind Jobs’ iTunes money machine and struggling Napster.
Online movie distribution?
Who knew?
Way behind Apple, Netflix, Amazon and darn near everyone!
Glaser has helped a lot of lawyers put their kids through college and buy new exotic cars. He took on his Seattle neighbor Microsoft and received a nice $760 million settlement. He ticked off Jobs for his engineering work-around iTunes DRM (digital rights management) security solution. Oh heck at least a half dozen others over the past 10 years.
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Real isn’t the first with a “DVD” backup solution. Nor the first to brazenly tell the world it was available. 321 Software had X Copy a few years ago but the MPAA sued them out of business.
SlySoft loves to quietly promote their AnyDVD that handles both DVD and BD discs but they’re down in Aruba. The islanders sorta blow off outside lawyers or lawsuits.
Kaliedescape was one of the first home servers that enabled you to store DVD content.
It was a great battle but the MPAA lost that one …they’re appealing. They don’t like the courts in Silicon Valley so they’re going to a better playground.
The idea of a home entertainment network – centrally store, play anywhere – is what home owners want.
Up until this year people had to either bring in a home networking specialist to do it (overlooking how the movies got on the hard drive) or be really good (and patient) techs to do it themselves.
But now there server solutions from firms such as Control14, Crestron, Fuse, Axonix, AMX, Escient, ReQuest that are “more or less” legal. A few pay the DVD-CCA license fees.
Most say they’re legal because they only backup (archive) your content once you have it off the disc (wink,wink,wink). Continued...
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