[d@DCC] Self-Destructing DVDs

From: Jason Young <jyoung _-at-_ lexinformatica.org>
To: Digital Copyright in Canada <discuss (at) digital-copyright.ca>
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 09:47:56 -0400

fyi: from Crypto-gram. This is a potential solution to the potential 
privacy implications of metering, but seemingly at the cost of the 
environment.

---

Self-Destructing DVDs

Disney is launching a pilot DVD-rental program that uses 
self-destructing DVDs.  The idea is that the DVD has a coating that 
oxidizes after a few days, rendering the DVD unreadable.

I think this is a very clever security countermeasure.  The threat is 
regular consumers.  Disney wants to be able to rent DVDs to them at a 
price-point lower than their sale price.  By making a DVD that only 
lasts a few days after being taken out of the package, Disney has 
solved the problem of needing an infrastructure to process DVD 
returns.

Of course this doesn't solve the problem of making illegal copies of 
the DVD, but that's not the problem that Disney is trying to solve. 
Self-destructing DVDs are a clever solution for a specific security 
problem, and if it works well it's likely to be a cheap and effective 
one.  (Compare this to Circuit City's superficially similar DIVX 
format, which also had expiring DVDs, but required a phone line and 
special player.)

<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030516/tc_nm/media_ 
disney_dvds_dc> or <http://tinyurl.com/byb6>
-- 

---
http://www.lexinformatica.org
http://www.privaterra.org
http://www.epic.org
PGP KeyID 0x46E11518
--
For (un)subscription information, posting guidelines and
links to other related sites please see http://www.digital-copyright.ca