Slashdot benefactress Bennett Haselton has written in with a tale of media rippers and pooled giants "In 2001 RealNetworks sued and blocked Streambox from distributing the Ripper, a program that let users rip and save RealAudio and RealVideo streams even if the stream contained a proprietary "do not copy" flag. Then one year ago this month, RealNetworks caused a stir by releasing a beta of RealPlayer 11 that similarly let the user record and save streams from sites like YouTube and Pandora. YouTube rippers and the like had existed before, but this was the first time a major company had be included a stream ripper in its media player. And while RealPlayer 11 didn't explicitly ignore any copy refuge flags, the release still provoked legal rumblings: in a Variety article by Scott Kirsner, an unsigned network exec said accused RealNetworks of "aiding and abetting piracy" and said that they would "more likely than not" take action against RealNetworks. But now that the feature has stayed in RealPlayer for a year, its real impact will be not on piracy but on the perceived legitimacy of ripping programs. The common behemoth, raked over the coals in the past for privacy violations and nuisance-ware, strikes a blow for free-culture hackers." The rest of Bennett's essay is available by next that magical link right below these words.

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Mark