Print - RealNetworks: Legal Threats from Microsoft, Apple Top Agenda

Streaming media pioneer RealNetworks is entering a crucial phase of its existence. Founded by Rob Glaser, an ex-Microsoft executive, RealNetworks has watched as companies such as Apple Computer, Microsoft and Napster have eaten into its core markets. So although the company just reported record revenues for the most recent quarter, its earnings are far outstripped by the cost of its legal battle with Microsoft and by an expected legal battle with Apple.

RealNetworks earned $4.7 million in the quarter ending June 30, on record revenues of $82.7 million, the latter of which is a 26 percent increase over the same quarter a year earlier. "With increased profitability, record revenue, and a base of more than 2 million paid subscribers, we continue to make solid progress," Glaser said, praising the results.

But troubles remain. RealNetworks is embroiled in an expensive legal battle, in which the company is accusing Microsoft of abusing its monopoly OS power. RealNetworks spent $11 million last year pursuing this claim against Microsoft, and it has already spent $8.4 million this year as well. Glaser predicts the company will spend at least another $8 million before the case ends. That's a tidy sum for a company that posted a net loss of $4.6 million in its previous fiscal year.

In a regulatory filing that accompanied its recent earnings release, RealNetworks also disclosed the risk it was taking by "hacking" Apple's proprietary iPod MP3 player so that songs purchased from RealNetworks' online music service could play on the device. "If Apple decides to commence litigation against us in order to prevent interoperation with its products, we may be forced to spend money defending their legal challenge, which could harm our operating results," the filing reads. RealNetworks also noted the technical challenge of supporting the iPod against Apple's will. Because Apple could continually change the iPod to make it incompatible with songs purchased from the RealNetworks service, RealNetworks could incur further costs reverse-engineering the device again.

In response to the company's precarious position, some financial analysts have urged investors to wait and see how the company performs over the next year. One positive possibility for RealNetworks is a Microsoft settlement. If the software giant chooses to settle the RealNetworks antitrust case out of court, as it has with so many of the other antitrust cases that arose in the wake of its federal antitrust conviction, RealNetworks could soon find itself rolling in money. And that, of course, is precisely the plan.

Ok, now raise your hand if you actually have spyware- er- Real installed on your computer.

I have to have it to listen to my football radio streams Otherwise it would be off my system forever. Winamp is the player of choice.

It would be in everybodys interest if Real Spyware went down the tubes. Maybe if they stopped the spyware infestation then more people would be willing to pay for it.

anything that Real makes is utterly annoying. why would i ever want to install something that will never want to leave and take all my money to finance their legal adventures against companies that actually make products which surpass real.

Real decides its Real player is going to completely take over the market. It doesn't, rather, it captures only a substantial share of the market. Real gets mad about that, pee-ed off because they realize they don't have divine right; so at Real headquarters instead of improving their software they sulk and sulk and sulk and then finally sue their competitor [proverbally going crying to mommy]. Now, Real complains lawsuits are expensive. Boo hoo hoo hoo.

Only is Paul's fantasyland is Real considered relevant to ANYTHING Apple does... They are a pathetic joke. When Windows users think your software sucks, you know something's wrong.

Real Player is garbage, but if i want to see or listen to real streams, i just use Real Alternative. It is free, does not require the madness which is real player and just lets me play the .rm files

Another one bites the dust at the hands of Apple ITMS and the Apple iPod. First, Rio was sold to an Apple iPod supplier SigmaTel, today Creative is expected to announce huge losses in last quarters results and Napster just announced losses totalling almost $20 million!

Any chance that should be Glaser predicts the company will spend at least another "$8 million" rather than "$8 billion"? If they're anticipating spending the b-word, perhaps it's not the best way to go.

I hate Real player but some sites require it. Same thing with Quicktime. Why can't I just use one player that does everything.

What worse is that Quicktime foces you to download iTunes. That is a crock of spit.

Everything related to Real is full of advertisments. Real is one of the most annoying programs I have ever used. I also wish I had one player that does everything.

"I also wish I had one player that does everything." Ah yes, they DO! Try out the Media Player Classic. Open source, ad free, player of typical formats, plus QT and RM files. I don't even have Real or QT installed on my machine, but I am not limited at all. See it here: http://tinyurl.com/t035

They don't force you to download iTunes, they just make the standalone link hard to spot on the site. Reminds me of some of the RealNetworks sites :\.

This unified front between Windows and Mac users almost brings a tear to my eye :)

"What worse is that Quicktime foces you to download iTunes" Lie. "I also wish I had one player that does everything." Stupid wish for convergence. You and Paul can go play with you're crappy Creative Media Players: Too big for your pocket (music) too small for an immersive video experience (video).. just right for photos (least demanded feature) Convergence blows. One program for each media type is not that big of a deal.

"What worse is that Quicktime foces you to download iTunes" "Lie. " I recently downloaded it. It installed itunes as well. I looked hard for a link where you can install only quicktime but I didn't see it because I couldn't believe they would make you install it. If there is a standalone link they don't make it noticable.

You will notice that for WinXP you have to download i-tunes with quicktime. Check the link out: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html Even Microsoft doesn't force you into stupid sheit like that.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html Follow that link.. you can either download QT or you can download a QT/iTunes bundle. What's so hard to figure out? You guys made it sound like they tried to hide a way to get QT by itself.

Quicktime with or without iTunes is still bloatware that thinks it's a high powered app instead of just a codec. Quicktime alternative is a much better option. Pretty much ditto for Real.

"Follow that link.. you can either download QT or you can download a QT/iTunes bundle. " Your not paying attention. The Quicktime without iTunes is available only for Windows 98/Me. I have WinXP which requires me to download iTunes. Geeeeez!!!!

"I also wish I had one player that does everything." I wish that software could be developed and be as advanced "all-in-one" as it would be if it were developed to be focused on one particular thing. I've used all-in-one movie players and they suck compared to using the software which was developed for use with movie file formats in particular which are native to that individual software. It sucks having to switch between software sometimes, but the performance and outcome of what you're using is nearly always better that way. I personally can't see Apple, Microsoft, Real, and DivX comming togather and developing all-in-one software which is better than the software they could develop indipendently. Sometimes that's just the way it is, and respectively it makes sense too.

Guys if you really want to have just one player on your computer you can download VLC Media Player (from the Video LAN Project) see www.videolan.org/vlc VLC Media Player is a cross platform media player that runs well on different platforms and is originally a UNIX based application. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. You can play .avi files, .mov files (QuickTime format), .wmv and .wma files (Windows Media) - don't know about RealPlayer fles because I never tried it but it might play .rm files too. Best thing about it is that VLC Media Player is FREE open source software.

Apple troll, they DO make the link hard to find. We've discussed this before. They don't put the download link for stand-alone quicktime with all the other links. They put it off in an unrelated section of the page. That's either poor design on their part, or it's done for A REASON. So Apple can promote iTunes. You KNOW why they're doing it. :P

"http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html Follow that link.. you can either download QT or you can download a QT/iTunes bundle. What's so hard to figure out? You guys made it sound like they tried to hide a way to get QT by itself." If you'll notice, the standalone player listed there is for Windows ME/9x, not NT/2k/XP. You don't see any standalone line for XP now do ya? It's there, but it's not with the two big download links. It's off on a lower part of the page: " * QuickTime 7 for Mac Features * Learn More About QuickTime Pro * QuickTime User Guide (PDF) * QuickTime FAQ * Version Availability * QuickTime Standalone Installer" You know, if the standalone player for 9x/ME works on XP, Apple is being deceptive. The link should read "QuickTime 6.5 for Win 98/ME/2000/XP".

I don't expect you to agree with us, even though we're right. It's obvious you think Apple can do no evil. That's why you've never said one SINGLE BAD THING about them that we've ever seen. You'll notice I complain sometimes about Microsoft. Perhaps you should realize Apple has faults, and is JUST A CORPORATION. I'll let you wrap your brain around that. G'night.

What is wrong with you folks? Mac users crabbin' at Windows users? Windows users berating Mac users? People bemoaning they want one piece of software that "does it all" - don't forget we got that with MS (90% market share, remember?) and look where we are with viruses, spyware, trojans, and of course, inbreeding of code. You don't want it, don't download it. Don't want to use something, don't buy it. But insulting each other using puerile posts and sophomoric wisdom is embarrassing for both camps. So chill out. Remember, it's a Brave New World. ;)

Thank you for shedding some intelligent, sobering light on a ridiculous tête-à-tête that needed to be said. But I shouldn't expect much when it comes to the entertaining but always supercilious Thurrott. His columns never cease to amaze me, and I always look forward to his op-ed (?) pieces and the animosity they provoke with readers. Button pushing or good journalism? Maybe too much of the former.

Here's a lil script for you! if you don't like the layout of www.apple.com; and your OS is Microsoft Windows then goto www.microsoft.com else quit complaining I hear the upgrade to Windows XP (Xtra Problems) will be Windows FBC (First Boot Crash). An insider told me it is going to come pre-installed with thoousand of FREE virus, spyware, malware, and worms. Aren't they so nice, you won't even need to download them. But let me be serious. I am in the computer repair buisness, if everyone owned an Apple, I would have to find a new job. (Why don't my friends with Macs ever call me to fix their computer) I really do LOVE Microsoft Windows. Or as I see it through my eyes Micro$oft Window$.

To everyone that wishes that there was a single app that would play all of your media files, there are such apps available. The first, which is available in open source, which I discussed on the first page, is the Media Player Classic. Download from this link right here: LINK: *** http://tinyurl.com/t035 *** ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Download the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack. This will give you Quicktime, Real Media, plus pretty much every other format available. And, it will even give you a *light-weight* player without the extra fluff. Windows Media Player, Quicktime, and Real are all bloatware to the max. Neither will you have tkbell or qttask loading on every Windows boot. I've also tried to download QuickTime without iTunes, and certainly had trouble finding it. It was not obvious. I didn't complain much. It is quite obvious that Apple wants to drive up the numbers for iTunes. That is a typical corporate move. Since, you know, Apple is a corporation that is in business to make a profit.

a) even if you download the bundle, can't you just do a custom install and not install iTunes (if you don't want it) b)I thought the name of the game was backwards compatibility. You mean apps for Win98 dont' work in Windows XP.. so why do we hear about how Windows is FULL of ancient buggy/lazy/sloppy code? If the codes only 5 years old.. why the EARTH SHATTERING Windows Vista