Sony DADC says it will replace copy-protected DVDs that are "incompatible" with a small number of DVD players. Sony says 20 DVD titles are affected including Open Season, Casino Royal, Stranger Than Fiction, Rocky Balboa, and The Holiday.
The Sony DVD disc incompatibility problem stems from Sony's use of the ARccOS copy protection system. Sony says the copy protection technology was used on a small number of DVDs that passed initial compatibility tests with DVD players. Sony estimates as many as 25 million DVDs have the incompatible version of the ARccOS copy protection technology on them.
One sign your DVD player may not be compatible with one of the 20 Sony DVD titles is when the DVD loads and displays the title screen but then freezes. After about 60 seconds the player turns itself off.
Sony says it has received complaints on less than 1000th of one percent of the affected discs shipped over the past few months--just a couple hundred complaints.
The vendor didn't supply a list of affected DVD players or say how many DVD players are impacted. The company would only say the number is very small. One of the DVD players impacted was a Sony DVD player model Sony DVP-CX995V, according to a Sony Pictures customer service repetitive.
Consumers who have purchased one of the 20 faulty Sony DVD movie titles can call Sony Pictures Home Entertainment at 1-800-860-2878 and request a replacement DVD. Sony says it has corrected the problem with ARccOS copy protection.
Here is Sony's official statement:
"Sony DADC has offered its customers ARccOS copy protection for more than two years. In order to protect content, ARccOS is frequently updated. Recently, an update that was installed on approximately 20 titles was found to cause an incompatibility issue with a very small number of DVD players (Sony has received complaints on less than one thousandth of one percent of affected discs shipped). Since then, the ARccOS system has once again been updated, and there are no longer any playability problems. Any customer who has contacted Sony Pictures Home Entertainment with a complaint has been given a replacement DVD. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment customer service can be reached at 800-860-2878."
Sony does it again!
Sony, the one and only, BUNCH OF GREEDY MORONS!
I am so sick of Sony. They are trying to force technology such as Blue Ray and they really suck at DRM (root kit and Beta Max all over again).
I am never buying an ther Sony product if I can help it.
So long Sony!!!
My rented copy of Casino Royale crashed WinDVD on my IBM Thinkpad. I had "autorun" enabled (which I should turn off...). Now I wonder if Sony installed more of their malware.
I used Windows product for years. I used to make fun of Mac users for various reasons I thought mattered. Until I was forced to get a Mac at work to interface with our graphic designers easier. Within 3 months, I had migrated every single job function I possibly could over to the little blue iMac and used it as my primary machine. I can go into arguments about security, viruses and all that crap. We can talk about the elegance of the OS and the hardware (which is nice when you're staring at it for 8 hours a day). But the bottom line was this...I had never owned or used a computer running Windows that simply worked and made my job easier like this iMac.
I now work in the IT field and it's dominated by Microsoft and UNIX stuff. We have a great staff that keeps the machines running well and we have up to date boxes. I still love going home to my iMac. Apple simply gets what matters about using a computer and Microsoft doesn't. End of story.
So where's the complete list of 20? Sony told me on the phone that if I didn't already have the list, they couldn't release that information to me. Chutzpah! They're the ones that screwed up. Now I have to dig for information?
CDRInfo plagiarizes again!!!!
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=20244
One thousandth of one per cent is a meaningless statistic if we don't know which players are affected. If those are new models, the numbers will change/swell dramatically. What it boils down to is: just because a disc works in my present equipment does not mean it will work in a new system. Will Sony still stand by a replacement 3 years down the road? Of course we're also not supposed to lend or trade DVD movies. This is a fiasco AGAIN!! Class action anybody??