RealNetworks must permanently halt the manufacture and sale of RealDVD under a 'stipulated consent judgment and permanent injunction' approved by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court, Northern District of California.

The order ends nearly a year and a half of legal action, during which the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) and the major motion picture studios successfully argued RealDVD violated the Content Scramble System (CSS) license agreement and made illegal permanent copies of copy-protected DVDs.

A temporary injunction stopping sales of RealDVD was imposed in September 2008, shortly after the product was introduced. At that time, DVD CCA and the studios alleged the product – which made permanent playable copies of DVDs – failed to comply with copy protection requirements to which RealNetworks had contractually agreed.

The order permanently prohibits RealNetworks from, among other things, “manufacturing, importing, marketing, offering to the public, providing or otherwise trafficking in RealDVD."

"Almost from the moment this product was introduced, it was clear RealDVD violated the CSS license," said Jacob Pak, President of DVD CCA. "Now, after months of arguments from both sides, the legal message is clear: making a DVD copier is a breach of the CSS license."

"We would always prefer to focus our efforts on working with licensees on the development of new or improved DVD products for consumers and our industry," added Pak. "But such a cooperative approach requires licensees to respect the CSS license and its amendment process, which did not occur in this case.”

Story filed 16.03.10