adamblast

http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/16/s...vds-wont-play/
I don't remember the issue having cropped up here before, or at least, I didn't find anything on search. Are people here reporting these problems with Sony discs? Is Sony screwing up bigtime? Are people returning these discs en masse?

madcougar

Ah, this explains why The Ballad of Ricky Bobby wouldn't play on my computer. And yes, I returned the DVD as defective. Of course the second copy didn't play either.

animatedude

i wonder if this is just about the R1 Sony discs.cos last fall i couldn't play my R2UK Thumbsucker disc on my new dvd player but it did play on my old one...

rw2516

All those Sony titles played fine in my players. Tried two different Saw 3 and both times, on three players got NO DISC message.

LeeVing

ARccOS is old, and Sony doesn't use it on all their titles like they use to when it came out. only took a few days for the ripping programs to beat it anyway.

Shap

Stranger Than Fiction would not play on my computer.

Dr. Mantle

I've got a Toshiba, and I was planning on renting a few of those. Guess we'll see what happens.

darkside

Fortunately my players have no issues, but it is easy to defeat as most of these schemes are. All stuff like this and the DRM on audio cds does is inconvenience the honest people that pay for the discs.

TylerDurden_73

Sony fixes problem DVDs
Copy-protection glitch reported on Casino Royale, Pursuit of Happyness others
By Jennifer Netherby 4/17/2007


APRIL 17 | Sony Corp. of America says it has fixed a glitch on recent DVD releases including Casino Royale, The Pursuit of Happyness and Stranger Than Fiction that prevented the movies from playing on some DVD players.

Sony said the problem was due to an update of its ARccOS copy-protection system, an additional layer of protection meant to prevent ripping. The studio has included ArccOS on its DVDs for the past two years. The copy-protection is continually updated to keep ahead of hackers.

“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),” the company said in a statement. “Since then, the ARccOS system has once again been updated, and there are no longer any playability problems.”

Several hundred users complained directly to Sony and on discussion boards at Amazon.com and other blogs, saying their players were freezing or shutting off in the menu section of recent releases from the studio.

Sony is providing replacement discs to customers that have had problems. Customers can call Sony Pictures Home Entertainment customer service at 800.860.2878 for replacement discs.

ARccOS is known to have compatibility problems with some models of Sony, Toshiba and Harman Kardon DVD players. Those were the same players that users on Amazon reported problems with.

TheMovieman

Well, at least they know it's a problem. I couldn't play The Holiday on my regular player (it played on both my laptop and portable player). Casino Royale had problems but by pressing the menu button, it finally started.

JZ1276

Sony sucks..only they would use copy protection which doesnt allow compatability on their own players

ernestrp

SONY/Columbia=THE DEVIL.

Snowmaker

So the copy protection prevents them from playing, but not from being copied.

TylerDurden_73

Great now this thread is turning into another bash Sony thread. Like we haven't heard all of your complaints by now. If you are not happy with a product or products from a company-stop buying from them. Plain and simple. That's what I do. Atleast Sony is doing something about it. That in itself is a right step.

darkside

That is how it usually works. Even with HD DVD and Blu-ray.

LeeVing

the right step would be to remove all copy protection. There is really no point to it anymore. Why punish people when the "hackers" can get around it anyway.

kms_md

what, exactly, is invalid about this complaint? consumers have an expectation that the product they purchase will work as advertised. sony advertised this product to be a DVD and consumers were reasonable to expect this DVD to play in, say for instance, a DVD player. nowhere on the packaging that i could find does sony mention to the consumer that the DVD may not be playable in a standard DVD player because sony is mucking with the copy protection scheme.

smashthesymbols

To me that's the best part of this story. How do you manage to make copy protection so messed up that your own hardware can't even play it? Way to go Sony.

TylerDurden_73

You can't expect sony to not protect their copyrighted material. So a small amout were found defective and made there way out for sale, Sony is taking the right step and offering a replacement. Alot of other studios don't admit or let alone fix small problems like this. And you are right it is not unreasonable to expect a DVD to play in a DVD player , but apparently you and a few others in this thread, think it is wrong for them to try to protect their copyright.

Mr. Salty

Every other major studio manages to copy-protect their DVDs without these kinds of problems. You'd think Sony would have learned its lesson after the XCP copy protection fiasco in 2005, which cost the studio millions.

darkside

I love the bullshit upgrade your firmware thing too. I still own several older Sony DVD players and none of them have ever had a firmware upgrade offered.

nateman

I agree with you on that part. At least they noticed the problem unlike Universal who just plain ignored customers for a long time when people complained about the DVD-18 Discs having poor playback.
I never really have any complaints about Sony, they make great DVD players in my opinion and i have never had playback issues with there DVD's. The only thing about Sony is that they have no release pattern for there Tv on DVD sets.

Fok

They'll never stay ahead of folks who pirate them.

LeeVing

even some PC game makers have learned to not mess with copy protection. There is no point in having it.

kms_md

first of all, i did not suggest that they do not have the right to protect their copyright. if, i in fact stated that, please point it out so that i may apologize. second, these are not defective discs. they were not mispressed or mishandled. they were encoded with an additional, and as it turns out, poorly working algorithm. there exists an industry wide standard - CSS (content scrambling system). granted, it sucks and is easily broken, but never the less, there is a standard encryption algorithm.

when sony adds an additional layer to the industry standard, i feel that it is their responsibility to the consumer to inform them CLEARLY that their product may not conform to industry norms. it should also be incumbent upon them to ensure it actually works (perhaps, by starting with their own players). sony has already suffered a black eye from the cd rootkit scandal. this does not help their image in public opinion.

finally, i agree, that this additional layer does nothing but frustrate legitimate customers. this scheme, like their previous efforts, apparently does little to prevent copying of their copyrighted material.