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Forget the legal issues, RealDVD's real problem may be its reviews
October 2, 2008

It’s worth noting that despite all the hype over the launch of RealNetworks' so-far-legal DVD ripping program RealDVD, which the MPAA scarily warns could takedown the movie business itself, reviewers aren't all that thrilled about it.
In fact, among the few reviews I could find (most of the coverage has been about the dueling lawsuits and opinion pieces on who will win), reviewers seem to be recommending it because it might soon be illegal, so get it now, even though as the Dallas Morning News tech blog says “it's a bit cumbersome in parts but essentially works.”
Glowing.
U.S. News and World Report called it “handy,” but offered little more beyond the same get-it-while-you-can rec.
The more techie sites, whose readers I’m assuming are more likely to already have and use freeware to illegally rip DVDs, aren't encouraging readers to run out and buy it.
Crunchgear complains about the enhanced copy protection that prevents users from burning a copy to DVD or sharing the copied file, writing “clearly Real is going for the crowd that uses computers as nothing more than tools to get work done.”
Always blunt Gizmodo seemed to sum up the mess with their headline “RealNetworks Sued for DVD Copying Software That Nobody Wanted Anyway.” OK, ha! The site called the software useless due to “crippling DRM which only allows for viewing of a ripped DVD on one PC, precluding the portability that might account for someone wanting to rip a DVD in the first place.”
Maybe this is crazy, and I'm just going to ignore all the legal stuff and leave that to Paul, but if the studios just started putting digital copies on all their DVDs, wouldn't that kind of make DVD ripping programs pointless to some extent?

Posted by Jennifer Netherby on October 2, 2008 | Comments (0)