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dvd-ripper posts

Filed under: Video, Windows

So long RealDVD, it's been, uh... real

RealDVD
A US district Court has issued an injunction preventing RealNetworks from selling its RealDVD software. RealDVD is basically a DVD ripper, but unlike most applications that let you crack DVD copy protection and copy videos to your hard drive, RealDVD includes its own DRM scheme which prevents users from making multiple copies or watching ripped movies on another computer or portable device.

RealNetworks had been hoping that these restrictions would help the software survive against any legal claims. After all, the courts have a long history of deciding that you have a right to create backup copies of media you purchase for personal use. Unfortunately, the DCMA circumvents this right by declaring that you can't use technology that circumvents copy-protection.

The long and short of it is that the court ruled against the company because its software violates the DCMA. It's not clear whether RealNetworks will appeal the case. Honestly, I doubt there were throngs of people clamoring to buy copies of RealDVD at $30 a pop when there are plenty of free alternatives that don't restrict what you can do with ripped movies.

But RealNetworks had been hoping to launch a version of the software that could be included on set-top boxes like DVD players that would allow users to insert a disc and save the data to a hard drive so they could browse through their movie collections and watch videos without swapping discs. And that's a feature I could see people spending a few bucks for.

Filed under: Video, News

RealDVD disc-ripper goes on trial

RealDVD
RealNetworks is probably the most visible company to come out with a DVD ripping utility. There are dozens, if not hundreds of other applications that let you copy the data from DVDs to your hard drive. But being high profile is sometimes all it takes to land yourself in court -- which is exactly where RealNetworks has found itself, even though the company's RealDVD software includes DRM restrictions that keep you from sharing ripped movies with your friends.

RealNetworks launched RealDVD last fall, but it was only on sale for a brief period before it got sued into partial oblivion by groups representing movie studios. Now the court trial is set to begin.

One interesting tidbit is that the RealDVD software, which lets you rip movies to your hard drive, is just the tip of the iceberg. The New York Times reports that RealNetworks has developed an application for Linux-based set top boxes like DVD players that would let you insert DVDs and save movies to a hard drive for later viewing without the use of a computer. If RealNetworks wins the case, you could see this feature showing up on set top boxes that would sell for under $300.

Filed under: Video, Windows, Freeware

bitRipper offers one-click DVD ripping

BitRipper
Want to convert your DVD into a video file that you can play on any computer, but don't feel like fussing with complicated DVD ripping software? It doesn't get much simpler than bitRipper. All you need to do is pop a DVD into your optical disc drive, fire up bitRipper, and click the Start ripping button. That's it.

Of course, you can click the settings tab to access more advanced features. For instance, you can change the audio or video codecs or adjust the bit rate, aspect ratio, or video resolution. At the very least, I'd recommend configuring the audio. The default settings use a ridiculously low bitrate that sounds just awful.

For some reason, when I tried ripping a video using the LAME audio codec, the audio and video were out of sync, but when I tried again using the Fraunhofer codec all was right with the world.

[via MakeUseOf]

Filed under: Video, Windows, Commercial

US Court temporarily prohibits RealDVD sales

RealDVD
You know how RealNetworks confidently launched a commercial DVD ripping program and then went and pre-emptively sued a bunch of movie studios to demonstrate in court that the software doesn't infringe on copyrights? Yeah, the studios sued back. And while the courts figure out how to deal with the whole mess, RealNetworks has been ordered to stop selling the RealDVD software.

NewTeeVee reports that this is just a temporary shutdown until Tuesday. The purpose is to give the judge time to review the details of the case.

Meanwhile, there are still plenty of applications that will let you rip DVDs for free, although few, if any, keep a DVD's CSS encryption intact the way that RealDVD does. So if you're a big fan of DRM, especially the heavy-handed kind that will only let you watch a ripped movie on a single computer, you might want to wait until this legal battle is worked out. If you prefer being able to watch movies your own way, you might want to check out Handbrake or Fair Use Wizard.

Filed under: Video, Windows, Commercial

RealNetworks to launch DVD ripper, complete with DRM

RatDVD
RealNetworks, makers of RealPlayer and the company that brought you the Rhapsody subscription music service are expected to announced a new product called RealDVD today. What's RealDVD? It's a DVD ripper. But unlike most DVD rippers available today, RealDVD makes a complete copy of a disc right down to the menus, alternate audio tracks, and special features. Oh yeah, and the software only lets you play that copy on a single computer thanks to some heavy-handed DRM.

There is a way around this restriction. You can transfer the file to up to 5 additional Windows PCs by purchasing up to 5 additional software licenses at $20 a pop. The first license will cost you around $30.

Of course, there are plenty of other applications that let you rip movies for free. And they don't add DRM. A few of my favorites are:
Technically it's illegal to use the aforementioned apps to rip commercial DVDs. But if you plan to make a backup of your movie collection for viewing on your PC and don't plan to distribute those movies on the internet, odds are nobody will come banging down your door. And you don't need to pay $20 if you buy a new computer and want to move your collection from one PC to the next.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Commercial, Freeware

Get full version of FairUse Wizard DVD ripper for free

FairUse Wizard 2.8
FairUse Wizard has been one of our favorite DVD archiving applications for a long time. The application makes ripping DVDs almost as easy as ripping CDs. You just pop in a disc, decide where to save it, and FairUse Wizard will do all the heavy lifting, ripping and compressing your video using the DiVX, XViD, or H.264 codecs.

FairUse typically comes in two varieties. There's a free version that limits your target file size to 700MB. Long videos will look pretty good, but not as good as they could at that file size. Or you can shell out a few bucks for the full version which has no file size limits.

But for a limited time, the full version of FairUse Wizard 2.8 is available as a free download. The latest version of FairUse Wizard includes a handful of bug fixes and a few new features including pre-defined encoding profiles for iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple TV, Xbox 360, PS3, and other devices. FairUse Wizard 2.8 also adds the ability to auto-detect multiple episodes on DVDs with television shows.

[Thanks Allan L.F.!]

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