Seattle - RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) on Tuesday filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against the Hollywood movie studios and the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) -- which licenses the anti-copying technology found on DVDs -- asking a federal judge to rule that its recently-released software that can make copies of DVDs does not violate the DVD CCA's license agreement. Seattle-based Real said it filed the lawsuit "in response to threats made by the major movie studios"; its lawsuit names Disney (NYSE: DIS), Paramount, Sony Pictures (NYSE: SNE), Fox (NYSE: NWS), NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) as defendants.

Morgan Hill, Calif. - A trade group of consumer electronics firms, technology developers and movie studios this week approved a new technology that will allow consumers to burn movies they download from online services to DVDs that will play in any player.

Mountain View, Calif. - Kaleidescape, the maker of a home entertainment server, announced on Friday that it has won a court victory over the DVD Copy Control Association, in a case that focused on the ability of the device to make copies of DVDs for storage and personal use.