Movie studios sue over DVD copying software
LOS
ANGELES, Oct. 4 (PNA/ANTARA) - The six major Hollywood movie studios
have sued the maker of a new software program that allows people to
make digital copies of their DVDs, according to reports Wednesday.
The
lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles by Paramount Pictures,
Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Columbia
Pictures, the Walt Disney Company and Sony.
They
alleged that the program RealDVD by RealNetworks violates the 1998
Digital Millennium Copyright Act because it bypasses the anti-copying
mechanism built into DVDs.
The
studios alleged that the software would cannibalize the sale of DVD's
and deal a death blow to their emerging business of digital downloads
by allowing people to rent and copy DVDs instead of buying them.
"RealDVD
should be called StealDVD," Greg Goeckner, executive vice president and
general counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, was
quoted by DPA as saying in a statement.
"RealNetworks
knows its product violates the law, and undermines the hard-won trust
that has been growing between America's moviemakers and the technology
community."
RealNetworks
said the program allows users to make backup copies of favorite discs
or take movies along on a laptop while traveling.
It
also said that RealDVD conforms to Hollywood's rules on DVD protection
by encrypting the digital copies, which prevents unlawful online
file-sharing.
"We
are disappointed that the movie industry is following in the footsteps
of the music industry and trying to shut down advances in technology,
rather than embracing changes that provide consumers with more value
and flexibility for their purchases," RealNetworks said in a statement.
(PNA/ANTARA)
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