RealNetworks is preparing to release a sure-to-be-controversial piece of software called RealDVD, which allows users to make a single digital copy of commercial films, reports the New York Times. The $30 program, to be sold on Real.com and Amazon later this month, bypasses the discs' native copy protection while adding its own DRM to the resulting file, theoretically restricting playback to the PC on which it was originally ripped; users can pay an additional $20-per-machine to acquire playback rights on more than one computer. However, despite Real's assertion that copyright holders' interests are suitably protected under this scheme, it's far from a given that movie studios will agree. In fact, the DVD Copy Control Association is currently appealing a decision -- one which Real CEO Robert Glaser cites as favorable case law for RealDVD -- in which the courts sided with manufacturer Kaleidescape and its high-end media server box, a product that also breaks DRM to make single digital copies.