RSSRealNetworks Fights Streambox
By Nate Mook | Published December 25, 1999, 12:05 AM
RealNetworks has filed suit against Streambox, Inc., maker of various digital audio software products. The suit alleges that Streambox Ripper, Streambox VCR, and Streambox Ferret allow users to bypass copyright protection when converting RealAudio to other formats, thus violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Although Streambox claims RealNetworks' goal is "preventing migration of digital media files from RealMedia to other platforms," a U.S. District Court today issued a temporary restraining order banning futher distribution of Streambox software. Streambox CEO Robert Hildeman feels that Real's tactic is "..unfair to both consumers and content providers."
RealNetworks will be ordered to pay Streambox $1 million dollars if the court finds the restraining order wrongfully issued in a hearing set for January 7th. In the meantime, Streambox will release new versions of its software, minus the ability to convert RealAudio.
Real gets all pissy about someone bypassing Copyright protection in certain media, yet they fail to punish themselves for leaking the DVD Encryption code out to the net, where now every warez hacker has a program developed to do just that.
Ya. You, of all companies, need to take action on others. Shya.. right.
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|I can not stress how much i agree with mforget, due to the fact, that I have been very fimular with this media since it's releasal (I am close friends with the person who encoded the FIRST movie in real), and to this day, I am yet to see even one copyrighted real audio file... it's most common use is for clips of songs that sites like cdnow use, kinda hard/dumb to pirate that, 'eh? Its things like this that make me want to slap a rather large privacy law suit on real.
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|The software industry in general is becoming far to litigous.
I cannot help but think that consumers are suffering because creativity and functionality are being restricted due to a fear of being the victim of a lawsuit. As a case in point, it seems clear that this case is motivated by the simple fact that RealNetworks desires to stifle comptetition. Are they really concerned about the Digital Millenium Copryright Act? No. Why should they be, after all? The only possible issue related to copyright infringement is if the destination format does not contain copyright management tools, but in that situation it is the responsability of the copyright holder to enforce the copyright. RealNetworks has absolutely nothing to do with the issue; the only people involved should be the copyright holder and the violator.
I hope that RealNetworks has a RealBankruptcy some day soon. Their proprietary, restrictive, outdated, inefficient, inflexible, and extremely-corporate oriented audio format is no longer necessary.
Did I mention I am not a proponent of lawsuits? :)
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|Well said. However, I do not blame RealNetworks for filing the lawsuit. They know their technology is obsolete and the only thing holding it afloat is the simple fact that it has been the only viable format in some markets. With new formats and technology upon us, RealNetworks must now do what it can to protect itself. If I were CEO of the company, I would do the same thing in a heartbeat. Although, RealNetworks has been involved in a lot of sleazy business activities recently, and I would not be surprised if the end has come for RealAudio as we currently know it.
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|I have ALWAYS had a sour taste in my mouth when it came to RealNetworks (aside from the fact that when Southpark wasn't a houshold name, RealVideo was the choice format catching the fisrt season's missed episodes, not to mention all the pre-Comedy Central skits). Anyway, I sincerely hope that the court finds this restraining order wrongfully issued--it's about time for Real to experience RealNetworkCongestion and buffer themselves out of the market.
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|They seem to be positioning themselves as a large audio network backend as well.. who knows where they will end up.
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