RealNetworks LLC is an American technology company and provider of Internet streaming media delivery software and services based in Seattle, Washington.

RealNetworks (then known as Progressive Networks) was founded in 1994 by Rob Glaser, an ex-Microsoft executive, and a management team including Phil Barrett, Andy Sharpless, and Stephen Buerkle.

[4] RealNetworks were pioneers in the streaming media markets and broadcast one of the earlier audio events over the Internet, a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners on September 5, 1995.

[5] Despite this success, problems arose because RealNetworks's primary business model depended upon the sale of streaming media server software, and Microsoft and Apple were giving those products away.

[18][19] Notable RealNetworks employees have included Alex Alben; the first Chief Privacy Officer of Washington State; Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod; musician Daniel House; and Philip Rosedale, the founder of Linden Lab.

[22] On April 27, 2021, SAFR received a grant from the US Air Force to develop its AI-powered analytics for rescue missions, perimeter protection and domestic search operations.

[25] RealNetworks on September 24, 2013, launched RealPlayer Cloud, a service that adds the ability to share videos recorded on smartphones and tablets.

[26] It was renamed to RealTimes on May 19, 2015, with a new focus on creating and sharing "Stories"—video collages of users' personal photos and videos, set to background music.

The company was later found to have violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and RealNetworks' contract with the DVD Copy Control Association, as the software also allowed anyone to save a movie they do not legally own.

[38][39] Beginning in 2010, RealNetworks sued Hilbrand Edskes, a 26-year-old Dutch webmaster, for having inserted hyperlinks to Real Alternative on his site www.codecpack.nl.

Edskes countered that while his automated script did upload Real Alternatives, the web server was deliberately configured to keep the file unavailable to public.

[44][45] Helix is a suite of streaming media software and services intended for digital TV set-top boxes, mobile devices, as well as QuickTime, Flash and other programs.

On top of the subscription for RealDownload and using its RealVideo streaming technology, a service called GoldPass, including unlimited access for video snippets from ABC and movie previews, was offered to registered users for a monthly $10 fee.