[NYTimes] Real Networks will announce today software which a whole lot of iTunes users wish Apple would integrate into iTunes, software which will allow you to make a “legal” digital copy of an entire DVD. Legal meaning that this software adds additional DRM to the copies you make. This is how Real hopes to avoid any problems with the studios.

The New York Times article states that the software, which will go on sale on Real.com and Amazon.com this month, will allow buyers to make one copy of a DVD, playable only on the computer where it was made. The user can transfer that copy to up to five other Windows computers, but only by buying additional copies of the software for $20 each. The software does not work on high-definition Blu-ray discs and is Windows only.

I for one am hoping that Real is successful in this endeavor. If you don’t mind the additional DRM, I think it would only be a matter of time before Apple integrated this capability into iTunes. Of course thats if the studios don’t sue Real Networks into extinction.

Head on over to the NY Times to read the entire article.