RealNetworks ups ante in DVD backup case

By Jake Widman
Thursday, 14 May 2009 23:53

Development

RealNetworks has added a new countersuit in its battle with the movie industry over the company's RealDVD disc backup software.

The case , now underway in San Francisco, is over Real's ability to develop products that enable consumers to back up their DVDs to their PCs.

The software was released in beta form last September, and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) promptly filed suit to prevent its distribution. The argument was that the software violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing the anti-copying technology on a DVD.

At the same time, Real filed a countersuit, asking for a judgment that its product didn't violate the law. A temporary injunction against RealDVD was granted and is still in effect while the case conctinues.

Now Real has opened another front, filing a claim that the MPAA and the DVD Copy Control Association violated antitrust law by agreeing that no member would sign a deal with Real unless they all did.

The complaint reads, "There is no place under the antitrust laws of the United States for competitors to agree with one another that they will not enter into individual business deals with another potential competitor, for fear that such a deal would undermine their collective position in the Courts or in the marketplace....the Studios' collective agreement not to negotiate individual licenses for their content with RealNetworks...is nothing more than an illegal price fixing scheme between horizontal competitors."

In light of the legal atmosphere exemplified by yesterday's Intel fine and recent U.S. Justice Department actions, Real must have decided the time was right to portray itself as a victim of illegal anticompetitive bullying.