Yesterday's ruling against Real Networks has revealed
some strange holes in the US copyright system.
District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled in favor of
the movie studios in granting a preliminary injunction against RealDVD,
declaring that the technology would allow consumers renting and buying DVDs to
violate copyright laws.
She admitted that a consumer has a right to make a backup
copy of a DVD for their own personal use. However federal law makes it illegal to manufacture or
traffic in a device or tool that permits a consumer to make such copies.
So in other words you have a right to copy your DVD but no
one is allowed to make a machine or software to let you do it. The way the law
stands it can be your right to drive a car but anyone who makes you a car could
go to prison.
Of course if applied literally this would ban the sales
of all DVD drives on your computer because these have the potential to be used
to copy. But since when has common sense applied to copyright law?
Published in
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Real DVD ruling exposes hole in the law
Confused? You will be