DVD rippers have been around for years, but using one has always carried with it a sense of dubious legality. While in most countries you probably won’t go to jail for using one (especially if you actually own the DVDs), an honest fellow who wants to backup his DVD for protection, or to watch a movie on a trip without having to carry the DVD around with him, will always feel a little apprehensive.

Now RealNetworks have proposed an alternative: RealDVD. The recently released software prices at around $40 ($30 introductory price, for now) and is available as a download. The software will let you legally copy a DVD (with everything included – alternate soundtracks, special features, etc.) to your hard disk, and up to 4 other computers, for $20 per extra machine.

It comes with some useful features such as a friendly, simple interface which should be familiar to anyone who’s used iTunes, and automatic association of the ripped movies with cover art, stars, directors, plot summaries, ratings and other such metadata. Some issues have been reported with it being unable to find the metadata for the latest movies.

Also, while it does not have a system to check whether you actually own the DVD being ripped, it does have a “feature” that prevents you from ripping DVDs without copy protection, assuming automatically that they’re illegally made.

If you’re ready to pay $30 for the comfort of knowing that you’re legit with your DVD backups, then RealDVD comes highly recommended. Otherwise, you can stick with the more “traditional” ripping software available.