Disney renting self destructing DVD's

[Luv2Roam]

Disney to begin renting "self-destructing" DVDs
Reuters, 05.16.03, 3:31 PM ET

LOS ANGELES, May 16 (Reuters) - This disc will self-destruct in 48 hours.

That is the warning The Walt Disney Co. (nyse: DIS - news - people) will issue this August when it begins to "rent" DVDs that after two days become unplayable and do not have to be returned.

Disney home video unit Buena Vista Home Entertainment will launch a pilot movie "rental" program in August that uses the self-destruction technology, the company said on Friday.

The discs stop working when a process similar to rusting makes them unreadable. The discs start off red, but when they are taken out of the package, exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser.

Buena Vista hopes the technology will let it crack a wider rental market, since it can sell the DVDs in stores or almost anywhere without setting up a system to get the discs back.

The discs work perfectly for the two-day viewing window, said Flexplay Technologies, Inc., the private company which developed the technology using material from General Electric Co. (nyse: GE - news - people)

The technology cannot be hacked by programmers who would want to view the disc longer because the mechanism which closes the viewing window is chemical and has nothing to do with computer technology.

However, the disc can be copied within 48 hours, since it works like any other DVD during that window.

Buena Vista did not disclose pricing plans but said the discs, dubbed EZ-D, would be available in August in select markets with recent releases including "The Recruit," "The Hot Chick," and "Signs."

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

 

[KNWVIKING]

I wonder if the Mission Impossible theme song plays at the end of the movie ?

 

[wdwguide]

The throwaway DVD deal didn't work with DIVX, and it won't work this time, especially with companies such as Netflix around where people can avoid late fees and keep the disks as long as they want - not just two days.

From an environmental perspective, this is an absolute nightmare as well. All these disks will end up in a landfill after two days, with no mechanism in place to recycle them. That's simply irresponsible.

If they want to rent more DVDs, they should probably try to do so by releasing better movies, not by introducing weird new marketing schemes that have proven flawed in the past and will start becoming obsolete within a couple of years when HD-DVD comes out.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Eisner is just SO concerned about losing $ over people burning CD's.

 

[Cricket2]

Originally posted by wdwguide
especially with companies such as Netflix around where people can avoid late fees and keep the disks as long as they want - not just two days.

Netflix is one of the major supporters of the tech this time.

Originally posted by wdwguide
From an environmental perspective, this is an absolute nightmare as well. All these disks will end up in a landfill after two days, with no mechanism in place to recycle them. That's simply irresponsible.

I know the estimates were in the metric tons, but they would save gas and roads and tires, and time which we all know is more valuable than nature right?

Originally posted by wdwguide
will start becoming obsolete within a couple of years when HD-DVD comes out.

That's a very optimistic time estimate for the HD-DVD format. Even if they can agree on the format, it will not be commonplace enough to consider it "obsoleting" for at least 7-10 years. The technology would still be valid anyway.

There is already a coating "halter" solution available for one of the 2 competing formats. I know one was surface applied and one was internal. It worked sort of like "Tarnex" does on silver. Sounds like Disney is going for the surface mount tech.

Goodfed up again Mike

 

[Cricket2]

I just read the article again and "Flexpay" is the internal one if I remember right.

Ok, one up for them this time I guess.

JC

 

[KNWVIKING]

As the article stated, copies can still be burned before the DVD expires so preventing copies is not his motivation. The money saving feature is in not having to deal with the DVD return expense.

Nothing will prevent video piracy. For ever deterent there will be a way to by pass it.

As for the thrown away disks: Disney should be so lucky that they can rent enough of these DVD's that they'll become an enviromental issue. Besides, buy a 50 pack of black CD-R's. Out of that 50, how many screwed up burns are there ? I can only use so many drink coasters in my house. The rest hit the landfill. If a CD in a landfill is a problem, them the industry needs to develope a bio degradable CD, not Disney.

 

[wdwguide]

Well, they are starting in August with a handful of titles in some test markets. Those trials will probably last several months. By the time they reach nationwide distribution with a sufficient number of titles to capture a reasonable share of the market, at least another year or two will pass under good conditions. By that time HD-DVD won't be all that far away any more. Disney, for one, is already shuffling their DVD releases around to get as many movies out as possible until then, so that they can cash in once again when the new format becomes widespread. At least it appears that this technology would work on HD discs as well, so maybe the transition wouldn't be all that difficult.

 

[DC7800]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Besides, buy a 50 pack of black CD-R's. Out of that 50, how many screwed up burns are there ? I can only use so many drink coasters in my house. The rest hit the landfill.

Consider how little space that package of fifty CD's actually takes up. Not much really; probably less than my garbage from lunch at Chick Fil-A. And even if absolutely everyone "rented" one of these destructing disks once a week for a year, that is all the landfill space we're talking about. I think we can handle that little solid waste.

I'm not exactly thrilled at the thought of yet another disposable item in our throwaway society, but I'd be much more troubled about not getting to finish a disk immediately after "buying" it. What if I just don't finish the movie in two nights? More importantly, I'm assuming there cannot be such an exact science that the disk will work perfectly on all players 47 hours out, yet stop functioning entirely by the 49th hour. I'd almost expect reports of (air-contaminated) disks DOA or which fail on some players in less than (or more than) two days.

 

[Another Voice]

If there was a similar coating you could spray on several high ranking corporate executive so that they would become inoperative after their time had expired - then I would be supportive of Disney using this technology.

Sadly until that day happens this just seems like another stupid soon-to-fail scheme to grab a few more pennies.

 

[treesinger]

My first reaction was that this is ridiculous. But upon further review, maybe not.

Divx was a complete failure because you had to continually pay to view movies that you OWNED. After 5 days, WHAM, expiration. So you send your info from your divx player to Central Command or some such place and they reauthorized you. Part of the reason for this was to gaher viewing habits of divx owners. A nice side effect, so they thought, is that you didn't have to bring the movies back since they would expire and no longer work unless you reactivated the disk for another period. To me, it felt a little too big brother-ish.

Disneys plan doesn't require a special phone line. Or a credit card number. Or pretending to let you own the film the way divx did. It's simply, watch it and then throw it away. Maybe it's not such a bad idea.

I'd like to see the studies they did on how much extra tonnage of trash it would generate per year though.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by Another Voice
If there was a similar coating you could spray on several high ranking corporate executive so that they would become inoperative after their time had expired - then I would be supportive of Disney using this technology.

.

AV, I think they already used it on Eisner. They just haven't thrown him away yet.

 

[CWIPPERMAN]

Originally posted by wdwguide
From an environmental perspective, this is an absolute nightmare as well. All these disks will end up in a landfill after two days, with no mechanism in place to recycle them. That's simply irresponsible.

I don't see any enviornmentalists out there protesting AOL or any of the other Internet Providers that contribute MILLIONS of discs to landfills every year. In the last month alone, I have personally received at least 10 of these discs in the mail - and they go straight to the trash can.

 

[SonicLogic]

Originally posted by CWIPPERMAN
I don't see any enviornmentalists out there protesting AOL or any of the other Internet Providers that contribute MILLIONS of discs to landfills every year. In the last month alone, I have personally received at least 10 of these discs in the mail - and they go straight to the trash can.

Catch up with the rest of us at this link;

http://www.usedaoldisks.com/aoldisks/index.htm

 

[d-r]

actually, I think I'd rather a model where you pay to download the movie to your pc or tv-like device. Then you don't need the technology to turn the stupid disc bad. Who needs the disc. For my use, like especially when traveling or something, I'd rather download a film through something like movielink than use something slow and random like netflix. Then I can have the movie right on my laptop or tablet, no need to worry about keeping up with some disc. And you could download whatever you wanted when you wanted, without worrying about your name coming up on the list of who gets mailed what when. And the traditional benefit of not having to drive back over to blockbuster.

For such a distribution system as movielink to really work, they would have to be timely releases and a larger library of titles. I know I can get something much sooner by going to blockbuster than waiting for netflix; it seems to me that you should be able to download a title the same day it is released.

Anyway, that seems much more convenient, environmental, cost effective, everything to me.

DR

 

[Mr D]

From what I understand the process involves releasing the sealed DVD to oxygen and then the disc changes color as the layers become opaque. Simple cure for that, I have a plexiglass box with sealed gloves that has a vacuum pump and a fitting for a nitrogen gas regulator. I can remove all the oxygen quite a bit. I use it for repair work on rifle scope and other scopes like binoculars to replace the inert gas inside the tubes with a dry non-fogging nitrogen gas, if a person was of such persistence the DVD could be opened in an inert gas box and then sprayed with a clear polymer coating to prevent the start of the oxygen deteriation process. Or just have a DVD copy machine in the box, its true that DVD piracy cannot be stopped.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by Mr D
From what I understand the process involves releasing the sealed DVD to oxygen and then the disc changes color as the layers become opaque. Simple cure for that, I have a plexiglass box with sealed gloves that has a vacuum pump and a fitting for a nitrogen gas regulator. I can remove all the oxygen quite a bit. I use it for repair work on rifle scope and other scopes like binoculars to replace the inert gas inside the tubes with a dry non-fogging nitrogen gas, if a person was of such persistence the DVD could be opened in an inert gas box and then sprayed with a clear polymer coating to prevent the start of the oxygen deteriation process. Or just have a DVD copy machine in the box, its true that DVD piracy cannot be stopped.

Now THAT is diligence!

 

[wtg2000]

I know the estimates were in the metric tons, but they would save gas and roads and tires, and time which we all know is more valuable than nature right?

Will this really be the case? Besides, I assume that video stores count on people coming back into the store to rent something else when they return a DVD. That's what I usually do. And I think most people drop off the DVDs on the way to work or somewhere else so I don't think it's a factor. Even new releases have 2 or 3 night viewing so you can drop it back when you're going somewhere. You don't have to make a specific run before noon the next day anymore.

I also notice that video stores sell a lot of previously viewed (rented) movies. This would stop that source of income. Also, it would stop late fee income. And what about 7 day rentals on movies after they've been out for a bit. Sometimes I will watch the movie one night and the extra a few days later.

I'm assuming that since you don't have to return these DVDs they will be able to sell them anywhere (ie Wal-mart). Essentially they will be selling them just for a limited time. They will have to distinquish between ones you buy permanently.

 

[treesinger]

I'm assuming that since you don't have to return these DVDs they will be able to sell them anywhere (ie Wal-mart). Essentially they will be selling them just for a limited time. They will have to distinquish between ones you buy permanently.

Oh man!

Imagine the uproar from Walmart customers thinking they bought a permanent DVD rather than the deteriorating one! That could be a huge PR fiasco!

 

[KNWVIKING]

Even though I don't believe the wasted disc's will amount to an enviromental disaster, maybe Disney could design the DVD with a collectable type picture on it so that people will save and display them- maybe Christmas tree decoration- rather then trash them.