RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser, on the witness stand for the second day in a lawsuit challenging his DVD copying software, was hammered by the motion picture studios’ attorney questioning his earlier testimony.
On Tuesday, Glaser testified that it would be “relatively easy” for the Hollywood studios to encrypt rental videos differently than those sold to consumers. Glaser uttered that proposal as a way to prevent consumers from copying rented DVDs with the RealDVD software product that is the subject of the lawsuit.
Bart Williams, an attorney for the Motion Picture Association of America, told Glaser that the studios are the ones who decide how to market DVDs. “That’s their decision to make, not yours,” Williams said.
While Glaser responded it was “practical” to encrypt rentals different, the 60-minute back-and-forth grilling came on the third day of a federal court hearing to determine whether the $30 RealDVD software can go back on the market.
The studios claim the software circumvents encryption technology designed to prevent copying and is therefore illegal and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel tentatively agreed with that position last year when she ordered a halt of sales – 3,000 in all — pending the outcome of litigation.
RealNetworks disputes the allegations that the software circumvents the Content Scramble System, the encryption used to prevent legitimate DVD copying. That’s an important issue, which is being debated by expert witnesses, because if RealDVD circumvents technology, there is no fair use right to copy DVDs for personal use.
If RealDVD does not circumvent, the next issue is whether there is a fair use right to copy one’s own DVDs. It’s a question that federal courts have never answered. All the while, there’s plenty of underground tools to easily burn DVDs, and the MPAA fears a loss in this case would legitimize copying and even lead to a DVD player and burner called Facet that RealNetworks wants to introduce.
(It should be noted, however, that a California trial court has authorized a $10,000 high- end DVD burner, ruling that the decryption method did not violate the Content Scramble System license. The decision is on appeal. But the judge neither ruled on whether the Kaleidescape box circumvented technology, or whether there is a fair use right to copy DVDs – issues presenting themselves here in the RealDVD case.)
On Tuesday, Glaser testified that it would be “relatively easy” for the Hollywood studios to encrypt rental videos differently than those sold to consumers. Glaser uttered that proposal as a way to prevent consumers from copying rented DVDs with the RealDVD software product that is the subject of the lawsuit.
Bart Williams, an attorney for the Motion Picture Association of America, told Glaser that the studios are the ones who decide how to market DVDs. “That’s their decision to make, not yours,” Williams said.
While Glaser responded it was “practical” to encrypt rentals different, the 60-minute back-and-forth grilling came on the third day of a federal court hearing to determine whether the $30 RealDVD software can go back on the market.
The studios claim the software circumvents encryption technology designed to prevent copying and is therefore illegal and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel tentatively agreed with that position last year when she ordered a halt of sales – 3,000 in all — pending the outcome of litigation.
RealNetworks disputes the allegations that the software circumvents the Content Scramble System, the encryption used to prevent legitimate DVD copying. That’s an important issue, which is being debated by expert witnesses, because if RealDVD circumvents technology, there is no fair use right to copy DVDs for personal use.
If RealDVD does not circumvent, the next issue is whether there is a fair use right to copy one’s own DVDs. It’s a question that federal courts have never answered. All the while, there’s plenty of underground tools to easily burn DVDs, and the MPAA fears a loss in this case would legitimize copying and even lead to a DVD player and burner called Facet that RealNetworks wants to introduce.
(It should be noted, however, that a California trial court has authorized a $10,000 high- end DVD burner, ruling that the decryption method did not violate the Content Scramble System license. The decision is on appeal. But the judge neither ruled on whether the Kaleidescape box circumvented technology, or whether there is a fair use right to copy DVDs – issues presenting themselves here in the RealDVD case.)
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