The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) believes RealNetworks has destroyed documents and other evidence that is necessary in the lawsuit between the two companies, according to a recent court filing.
The MPAA is suing RealNetworks because of RealDVD, its DVD-ripping software that Real launched towards the end of last year, promising the ability to easily copy DVDs to a computer -- but digital rights management (DRM) protection also is copied over.
The MPAA, in a Feb. 25 court filing, said it has been difficult to locate information about RealDVD, as computer files and laptops with the information were reportedly "nowhere to be found."
"The evidence here is that Real actively destroyed documents," according to the MPAA. "This leads to a presumption of bad faith."
The company isn't responsible for keeping every document, but must retain all documents related to RealDVD, the MPAA said in the court filing.
RealNetworks fired back at the beginning of March by saying it still has records of everything related to the case -- more than 240,000 pages of information so far. "Real is currently maintaining all documents related to this case."
All of this legal posturing started in September, when Real launched preemptive lawsuits against the movie studios. The MPAA then launched a lawsuit that forced Real to temporarily stop selling RealDVD until the legal outcome was finished.
