In February 2009, LA resident Emma Alvarado filed a lawsuit against Microsoft accusing the software giant of profiting from consumers downgrading from Windows Vista back to XP.
Alvarado’s complaint says Microsoft forced customers to first purchase the new operating system, before they could downgrade to the operating system they really wanted, XP.
The case was tossed out this week.
Writes U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman: “Nowhere does she allege that she paid to downgrade or that she did not receive a copy of Vista when she freely chose to purchase her new computer with that software. That she chose to downgrade to XP without extra cost does not demonstrate that Microsoft retained a benefit without giving value. Nor does the fact that she chooses to use only one version nullify the fact that Microsoft gave her value for the bargain.” If anything, “it appears that Plaintiff obtained two versions of Microsoft’s operating software for the price of one,” Pechman continued.
“We’re pleased the Court agreed that Plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a viable claim and dismissed it in its entirety,” Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz responded.
Alvarado claimed she had to pay a $59.25 fee to downgrade from Vista to XP, although Microsoft does not charge such fees. Those fees are imposed by computer makers, such as Lenovo, which charged Alvarado for the downgrade. Lenovo was not named in the suit.
Result for: district court judge
RealNetworks has appealed the recent court ruling that blocked it from selling its RealDVD copying software.
The company never got to sell one unit of the software before they were taken to court by the media industry, with full backing by the Hollywood studios. Real was served with an injunction in August, banning sales of the software and of an upcoming set-top that incorporates the technology.
U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled at the time that RealDVD circumvents the CSS copyright protection of the discs, thus violating the DMCA.
At the same time, Patel rejected the “Fair Use” argument the company was making, despite Real’s claim that they were simply giving customers the chance to exercise their right to make backup copies of movies they own.
The appeal trial is set to start November 9th and should garner big media attention.
Result for: district court judge
A federal Judge has stung RealNetworks badly by issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the company from selling its RealDVD software, which costs $30 a pop. Additionally, the company’s prototype DVD player, Facet, will now also be blocked from sale. RealDVD allowed consumers to make copies of their DVDs onto their computers, while Facet is a HDD-equipped DVD player. The company has maintained that the software is entirely legal.
This case became important because it can answer the question of whether consumers in the U.S. are allowed to make copies of their DVD movies. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) regards Facet and RealDVD as tools of piracy that could cost the industry a lot of money, and claimed they were illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Real argued that because it has licensed Content Scrambling System (CSS) from the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA), that its software and prototype DVD player do not break provisions surrounding the circumvention of copy protection, disregarding ARccOS and RipGuard.
“RealDVD makes a permanent copy of copyrighted DVD content,” U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel wrote in her decision, “and by doing so breaches its License Agreement with the DVD Copy Control Association … and circumvents a technological measure that effectively controls access to or copying of the Studios’ copyrighted content on DVDs.” Real, of course, said it was very disappointed with the Judge’s decision. The MPAA on the other hand called it a victory for the creators and producers of movies and TV shows.
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