In the latest twist in the never-ending legal battle between Kaleidescape and the DVD CCA, Kaleidescape CEO Michael Malcolm tells CE Pro (Electronic House’s sister publication) that the California 6th District Court of Appeal has granted a temporary stay of the injunction handed down by Judge William J. Monahan earlier in March 2012.
This means the injunction that would have forced Kaleidescape to stop selling its DVD movie servers will not come into effect on April 8, 2012 as previously ordered, according to Malcolm.
“The injunction will not come into effect while the Court of Appeal decides on our petition that the injunction be stayed during the appeal process,” Malcolm says. “If Kaleidescape’s petition is not granted, the injunction could come into effect later in April or in May.”
After the injunction was handed down, Malcolm sent a memo to dealers and said the injunction might never take effect, unless the Court of Appeal affirms Judge Monahan’s ruling. Malcolm also assured dealers the injunction “will in no way enjoin our dealers” as they act independently and outside of Kaleidescape.
In a flash survey by CE Pro, 23 percent of respondents said they don’t care about how the courts rule in DVD-ripping cases, noting that the future is Blu-ray and Kaleidescape is perfectly legal in that regard.
Kaleidescape’s Blu-ray servers, which require discs to reside in a carousel for authentication, have never raised legal questions. The DVD CCA has denied Kaleidescape’s offer of a similar solution for DVDs. The court has punished Kaleidescape with a total injunction of any DVD server products, even those that might require carousels.
If you’re looking for a permanent alternative to the Kaleidescape issue, check out our story on 12 Ways to Rip DVDs and Blu-rays.