For several years, the film industry has watched the implosion of CD sales in the music industry caused by the ease of file-sharing online, and waited for the same planet-killer asteroid to strike the DVD market. While DVD sales flattened then actually declined in recent years, the refrain has been, “well, at least DVDs can’t be ripped like CDs — yet.”

As internet download speeds have increased and consumer viewing habits have shifted more and more towards computer and mobile, the industry has been anxiously waiting. The big blow may have landed this week with the announcement of RealNetwork’s new RealDVD software. For $30, consumers can download the software and burn digital copies of DVDs to their hard drives. The software has lots of restrictions on how many times a film can be copied or moved, and fees for burning the film onto DVD-R too many times, but the introduction of RealDVD opens the floodgates to legal DVD copying and sharing.

Of course, anyone with a computer can tell you that lots of ripping and file-sharing of movies and TV shows already occurs, but it remains a relatively small segment of total film consumption. What makes RealDVD different is a) it’s legal, at least until the MPAA drags RealNetworks into court; 2)  it’s professionally engineered software from a respected corporation, not illicit encryption-cracking software like Mac the Ripper; 3) it is simple to use, according to the hype, requiring a single click to copy; and 4) it offers lots of bells and whistles like browsing titles by cover art and sorting by actors, genres and other info.

Easy, legal, cool and backed by a multi-million dollar ad campaign? I think there’s reason for worry at the studios. DVD sales and rentals, though not as robust as they once were, still generate twice as much revenue as theatrical receipts (and much, much more in net profits). There is absolutely no evidence that the industry can find new revenue streams to replace DVDs if the DVD market collapses.

I struggle a little with conflicting feelings towards copying. I feel like I should be able to make copies of something I bought, yet recognize as a practical matter that there’s going to be a hell of a flood once the digital levee is breached.

What do you think?