Today's ruling against RealNetworks is yet another strike against consumers by the entertainment industry. The fact that the industry was able to buy off enough politicians early in the game put paid to the issue before it had even begun.

Even though federal law states that a person has the right to create their own backup copies of their movies or music, there is also a law that prevents the manufacturing or distribution of technology that allows the backup to be made.

This creates a bit of a conundrum, or in legal-speak; a cluster-fuck, where no one is quite sure where they stand when it comes to exercising their rights. Sure, we can legally make backups of entertainment that we purchased, but we have no legal means to create the backups in the first place.

Snapshot of news article after the jump...