Why doesn MAC OS X Leopard have its own DVD ripping application?
It’s illegal if the creator of the DVD says you can’t rip it in the license agreement. Pretty much every commercial DVD you would buy is going to have this. ripping DVDs isn’t inherently illegal, but you would be hard pressed to go to the store and find one that you can. That said, I am of the opinion that once you buy a DVD it is yours to do with as you please, and if you want to rip the content to your computer it’s nobody’s business but your own. For a Mac I would recommend HandBrake (http://handbrake.fr/). It’s a great tool for ripping DVDs and bypassing copy protection. And it’s absolutely free!