RealNetworks, Inc. v. Streambox, Inc.

RealNetworks was an early innovator in streaming media, and in the late 1990s developed a paid service that allowed users to stream copyrighted audio and video files with the authorization of the copyright owners; the users would not be able to make copies of the audio and video data. Streambox was an audio/video company that responded to consumer demand for the ability to capture streaming media, like that available from the RealNetworks service, and to save the resulting files on one's own computer to be played on other devices. Streambox developed a product called the Streambox VCR that allowed users to copy .rm and other proprietary file types that were stored on RealNetworks servers. Streambox offered another product called the Ripper that converted the captured files from the RealNetworks proprietary formats into more easily used file types including .wav and .mp3. Streambox also offered a product called the Ferret that added a user interface to the RealNetworks platform, enabling users to manipulate the RealNetworks streams in various ways. RealNetworks claimed that its own service was intended to serve as a copyright protection control for the owners of music and video copyrights, and that the Streambox products circumvented that protection mechanism in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. RealNetworks also claimed that its own copyrights had been infringed because Streambox's services illegally altered its software. RealNetworks filed suit in the District Court for the Western District of Washington and sought a preliminary injunction to prohibit the distribution and use of Streambox's VCR, Ripper, and Ferret products. ==Opinion==

During the proceedings at the district court, Streambox attempted a fair use defense by claiming that its products simply enabled RealNetworks users to play files at their leisure, The court rejected this argument because the Digital Millennium Copyright Act had been enacted in the meantime, while the technology at issue in the Sony case (video cassette recorders) did not circumvent someone else's copyright protection mechanisms. ==Impact==

RealNetworks, Inc. v. Streambox, Inc. has been cited as an important precedent on the functions of the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but with some criticism of how it favored copyright owners at the expense of new technological innovations that could benefit the general public. though some commentators have found that the specific technological issues of the case have been applied awkwardly to later file-sharing technologies, confusing the differences between downloading and streaming. == References ==