Self-Destructing/Disposable DVDs

[Chi]

A co-worker saw these at a Staples recently. Good or bad idea?

 

 

 

Self-destructing DVDs

By Paul Rubens

 

 

"This DVD will self-destruct in 48 hours." This could be the warning message on a new type of DVD to be launched next month.

The disc, called an EZ-D, will be sold in an airtight envelope. Once the package is opened, the surface of the disc will start to react with the air, slowly changing colour from red to an opaque black over the next two days.

 

DVD players use a laser beam to read information held on an information layer beneath the surface of a disc, so once the surface becomes opaque the DVD becomes unusable.

 

But what's the point of a DVD that self-destructs? Who wants a disc that effectively goes rusty?

 

According to New York-based Flexplay Technologies, the company that has developed the EZ-D, the new discs will make it far more convenient to watch films. That's because the discs will be sold at about the same price as it costs to rent a DVD, and will be available from vending machines, hotel gift shops and newsagents.

 

Impulse buy

 

But unlike a rental DVD, each EZ-D will be brand new and scratch free when bought. More importantly to anyone who has forgotten to return a DVD or video from the video shop and has had to pay late return charges, there's no need to take the disc back. The EZ-D can be played repeatedly until it expires.

 

 

By making DVDs disposable, the company also hopes to turn a DVD movie into an impulse buy.

The vast majority of new laptop computers are now equipped with DVD players, so instead of buying a trashy novel at the station to read on a long train journey, laptop owners will be able to buy a trashy film on an EZ-D instead.

 

It's never been sensible to rent a DVD when travelling because there's often no way to return the film, but at the end of the train journey an EZ-D can simply be disposed of.

 

Fortunately for the environment, there's no need to throw EZ-Ds away once they've expired, as Flexplay has arranged a recycling programme - in the United States at least - with a Missouri-based company called GreenDisk.

 

EZ-D purchasers will be encouraged to post their expired discs to the company, which arranges for them to be melted down. The resulting polycarbonate can be used in the car, computer and telecommunications industries, according to Flexplay.

 

Programs

 

Although the company is initially targeting its technology at the DVD market, it can also be used to make music CDs and computer software discs which slowly become unplayable.

 

 

Possible uses would include offering time-limited copies of music albums for journalists to review, or trial copies of computer programs for distribution with magazines. And although the discs need to be used within a year of manufacture, the "playable window" can be extended so that disks can be made that last for a week or a month instead of 48 hours.

Flexplay's technology has already been taken up by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a division of Walt Disney, which will start selling EZ-D titles including The Recruit, Rabbit Proof Fence, Hot Chick, and 25th Hour in August.

 

But some doubts about the new format must remain. EZ-D's will incorporate exactly the same copy protection as normal ones, according to Flexplay, but disc pirates will surely be keen to discover whether EZ-Ds are a potential new, low cost source of material to copy illegally.

 

Hackers

 

And there's little doubt that hackers will be keen to see if it's possible to foil the system, perhaps by polishing off the opaque black surface of an expired disc to make it payable again, or by storing discs in a liquid to slow down the oxidisation process.

 

 

Disc pirates will surely be keen to discover whether EZ-Ds are a potential new, low cost source of material to copy illegally

 

 

Consumers will also be keen to discover whether an EZ-D disk which is nearly completely opaque after, say, 40 hours will actually be playable, or whether it will be unplayable in some DVD players but not in others.

But at least the new discs should spell the end of the ultimate annoyance of the video age: paying late return fees to a rental store for a film you never even got round to watching.

 

Taken from: BBC NEWS | Magazine | Self-destructing DVDs

[Old Salt]

Seems to me that DVD rental places would be fighting this. After all, they must make a pretty penny on late fees. This would take that source of income away. Of course, they could always increase the cost of rental.

[phreakwars]

Very dumb idea, the hackers would have the encryption broke within a week. That is a guarantee. After that, copying the movies to start a nice collection of them will just get cheaper. And to the benefit of movie pirates who usually rip their rentals, they will now have a better quality copy that hasn't been used before and might contain scratches. Ahh I can't wait !!

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[eddo]

"Don't hack these, Bitch! Or I'll sick Jombie on your ass!"

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[Chi]

"Don't hack these, Bitch! Or I'll sick Jombie on your ass!"

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[Old Salt]

Very dumb idea, the hackers would have the encryption broke within a week. That is a guarantee. After that, copying the movies to start a nice collection of them will just get cheaper. And to the benefit of movie pirates who usually rip their rentals, they will now have a better quality copy that hasn't been used before and might contain scratches. Ahh I can't wait !!

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If it's a chemical process, would there be anything to hack?

[snafu]

Good ideas but it's just a lot more polluting waste. Yet another recycle bin.

[ImWithStupid]

If it's a chemical process, would there be anything to hack?

 

I think he meant that they could hack the protection before it destroyed itself and make a copy.

 

I am however surprised that software companies like Microsoft haven't used this to fight pirating programs in the same office.

[Chi]

I think he meant that they could hack the protection before it destroyed itself and make a copy.

 

I am however surprised that software companies like Microsoft haven't used this to fight pirating programs in the same office.

 

That's what I was thinking. To use a similar concept to make the disks self-destruct when they are being copied, stolen, etc. That would be more practical, useful and profitable imo. Not necessarily for some of us, but for that particular company and the movie, music and computer companies.

 

Reminds me of the ink packets that go off when bank robbers are given certain money bags.