In yet another blatantly asinine attempt at “copy protection,” record labels are test-releasing DVDs that become unreadable a limited time after being exposed to air. The New York Times (free registration required to view the link; sorry) writes:
In the promotion by Atlantic Records, retailers in the southern United States will offer a free sample DVD to buyers of a CD by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group. Once the packaging is opened, the disc will work for only eight hours before being made unreadable by a dye sandwiched between the DVD’s layers that interacts with air, leaving it opaque.
I hope consumers will denounce this for the farce that it is. Not only is the technology ripe for misuse and confusion, but think of the waste generated by all of the DVDs rendered useless; AOL freebies are bad enough! The discussion at Slashdot is worth reading if you feel like venting…
