Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Claudio Gutiérrez <gutierrezclaudio () terra cl>
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 19:48:46 -0400
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

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 after a change in color renders them unreadable. They
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)

Chief Executive Alan Blaustein told Reuters he was also in conversations
with other companies to use the self-destructing discs.

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."


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