RealDVD and a court case worth watching

I'll try to be tracking developments of this issue related to the release of the RealDVD solution from RealNetworks Home Entertainment Inc. It allows consumers to save their DVDs to their computers, but Real notes that it is a fully licensed DVD CCA product, that allows users to make "legitimate, fair-use copies of the DVDs they own while employing a digital rights management scheme to help prevent illegal copying and sharing."

Now, Real is following on the heels of the Kaleidescape ruling from 2007, where a court ruled that Kaleidescape's product was in full compliance with the DVD Copy Control Association's license to the Content Scramble System, the method used to encrypt video and audio data on DVDs. RealNetworks filed suit against a number of Hollywood studios and the DVD Copy Control Association on September 30, asking for the district court to rule that RealNetworks Home Entertainment, Inc.'s RealDVD software fully complies with the DVD Copy Control Association's license agreement

The latest news involves the district court judge's decision to keep a restraining order in place until she learns more from experts about how the software works.