Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

[bvsdjumper 0]

Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

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

That is the warning The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS - news) 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)

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."

So, it can't be hacked by computer programmers. How long before it gets hacked by a chemist who figures out how to turn the coating back to red???

--Art

Sky-div'ing (ski'div'ing) n. A modern sport that involves parties, bragging, sexual excesses, the imbibing of large quantities of beer, and, on rare occasions, parachuting from aircraft.

[Guest]

To say nothing of the addition to the waste stream. how many people are going to bother to recycle them?

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[billvon 3,120]

End result: an acceleration in sales of DVD burners.

[Guest]

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Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

***exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser.

So put your DVD and player in an oxygen-free environment...How much is dry nitrogen these days?

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[bvsdjumper 0]

Good point. There's going to be alot of DVD coasters out there to accompany all the AOHell CDs.

--Art

Sky-div'ing (ski'div'ing) n. A modern sport that involves parties, bragging, sexual excesses, the imbibing of large quantities of beer, and, on rare occasions, parachuting from aircraft.

[n2skdvn 0]

***End result: an acceleration in sales of DVD burners.

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allready got one!!!

if my calculations are correct SLINKY + ESCULATOR = EVERLASTING FUN
my site

[bvsdjumper 0]

From a magically deleted post...

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Wouldn't that chemist have to find a way to peel the plastic off of the aluminum disk in the center, apply his magic dust, and then replace the plastic layer?

I'm not sure, but if that's the case, it would be a pain in the butt.

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There's no point in hacking the technology if the hack costs more than it would to purchase the disk.

True, but I bet somebody will try to do it anyway just to say they did it. Plus you can still copy the DVD while it's in its two day viewing window.

--Art

Sky-div'ing (ski'div'ing) n. A modern sport that involves parties, bragging, sexual excesses, the imbibing of large quantities of beer, and, on rare occasions, parachuting from aircraft.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

They tried this before with a standard called Divx - it was the other DVD standard that Circuit City was pushing. It failed, miserably.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[Guest]

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They tried this before with a standard called Divx - it was the other DVD standard that Circuit City was pushing. It failed, miserably.

Yeah. Personally, I think this one'll go over like a fart in church too.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[billvon 3,120]

>Personally, I think this one'll go over like a fart in church too.

I don't think so. With DivX you needed a special player, an authorization to extend the viewing time etc. With this you could even do a DVD vending machine - $2 per disk, you can copy it if you want, otherwise you watch it and then it dies. Most people will spend $2 on a whim.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Divx players were cheaper than the ones Best Buy was selling at the time, and they played DVD format as well. The concept was a bit to hard to understand, one of the reasons consumers didn't support it.

$2? Hmm, if that is so, I would be all for this - as long as it still came with digital sound. I doubt all the extras will come with it. However, would a company be able to make a profit on a $2 chemically enhanced, specially marketed DVD?

If this worked, would it put Netflicks.com and Blockbuster out of business?

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[bvsdjumper 0]

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With this you could even do a DVD vending machine - $2 per disk, you can copy it if you want, otherwise you watch it and then it dies. Most people will spend $2 on a whim.

That would be cool if they did that for movies just released for DVD. You'd have a better chance at getting to see the movie soon after it was released instead of having to wait another month.

I think it would have to be cheap though like you said. A few bucks maybe would work. But, if they made them like almost 10 bucks or more, I think that would fail.

--Art

Sky-div'ing (ski'div'ing) n. A modern sport that involves parties, bragging, sexual excesses, the imbibing of large quantities of beer, and, on rare occasions, parachuting from aircraft.

[PhillyKev 0]

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If this worked, would it put Netflicks.com and Blockbuster out of business?

No, it probably means you just won't have to return your disks to Netflix. They'll just put a limit on how many you can get a month or something.

[Chivo 0]

I would definetly go for that. I don't rent often, but about 90% of the time I get movies from BlockBuster, I'm returning the rentals late. Not having to return them would save me a lot of $$$ in penalties. Obviously it depends on how much they plan to charge for them.

~Chivo

[LouDiamond 1]

As stated already, I think the big issue here is what is done with the dead DVDs? I see a lot of useless DVDs filling up landfills and not getting recycled in some way.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[RevJim 0]

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If this worked, would it put Netflicks.com and Blockbuster out of business?

Naah, they have 5 day rentals for the cost of a 2 day disk or less.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[billvon 3,120]

>As stated already, I think the big issue here is what is done with the
> dead DVDs? I see a lot of useless DVDs filling up landfills and not
> getting recycled in some way.

Have a slot in the same vending machine. Put $4 to get a disk, return it (even 12 months later) and you get $2 back. The guy who maintains the machine loads the new ones and removes the used ones at the same time. The hot ticket would be to have a coating that would blacken when exposed to oxygen but return to clear when exposed to high pressure chlorine or something, so they can be reused almost immediately. If not, the disk gets chopped up and used for feedstock (insulation, plastic bottles etc)

[LouDiamond 1]

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>As stated already, I think the big issue here is what is done with the
> dead DVDs? I see a lot of useless DVDs filling up landfills and not
> getting recycled in some way.

Have a slot in the same vending machine. Put $4 to get a disk, return it (even 12 months later) and you get $2 back. The guy who maintains the machine loads the new ones and removes the used ones at the same time. The hot ticket would be to have a coating that would blacken when exposed to oxygen but return to clear when exposed to high pressure chlorine or something, so they can be reused almost immediately. If not, the disk gets chopped up and used for feedstock (insulation, plastic bottles etc)

My thoughts too but even if you put a slot on the vending machine for dead DVDs people would throw them in the trash more than they would return them to the vending machine unless they put a value on them like some states have on bottles and cans. Even that is not perfect though, I still see a lot of waste going on.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[VectorBoy 0]

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I would definetly go for that. I don't rent often, but about 90% of the time I get movies from BlockBuster, I'm returning the rentals late. Not having to return them would save me a lot of $$$ in penalties. Obviously it depends on how much they plan to charge for them.

~Chivo

And then you would have a wonderful coaster collection too. Glen