Digital Rights: Listing of Digital Rights Stories - Cedia Expo 2009

Digital Rights

Friday, September 25, 2009

Envive Adds TheaterStation Multi-Zone Media Management

Following the legal battles involving RealDVD and Kaleidescape, Envive has re-launched its media servers to avoid the legal fray.

During CEDIA Expo 2009 the maker of TheaterStation media servers launched its Multi-Zone Digital Media Management System and TSClient Mini.

Envive CEO Chris Bortner — even though “I’m not a lawyer” — says he dashed many legal concerns from CE pros during CEDIA Expo by explaining the differences between TheaterStation and Kaleidescape.

“The difference between us and Kaleidescape is that our system is open,” Bortner says, referring to the fact that the Envive product does not require (or allow) DVDs to be copied directly onto the server. Instead, the device can accept content that is stored on other devices in the home, including PCs and NAS drives.

“Envive doesn’t enable the playing or copying of access- or copy-protected media out of the box,” Bortner says.

Posted by Tom LeBlanc on 09/25 at 09:50 AM
News, Digital Rights, Legal, Media Servers, (0) Comments, Permalink

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Latest on DVD Ripping: RealNetworks, Control4, Crestron, Kaleidescape

RealNetworks is causing quite a stir with a new DVD ripping program called RealDVD.

Big deal? The software appears to be the first from a studio-friendly, name-brand provider, and the company claims it is entirely legal.

From the RealDVD FAQ:

Is it legal to save movies with RealDVD?
Yes, provided that you are the owner of the original DVD and you use your saved copy solely for your personal use.

I'm not sure where this stipulation comes from – certainly not the DVD CCA (Copy Control Association), which licenses the decryption software to RealNetworks for DVD playback.

Even so, RealNetworks says it is abiding by the DVD CCA's licensing mandates because the ripped DVDs maintain their copy-protection wrapper (and, by the way, everything else about the DVDs including the extras).