Some Sony DVD's Won't Play

[akrako1]

Sony Pictures DVD’s have a new a copy protection that makes the movies unplayable on some Sony (& other makes) DVD players!
Posted March 19th, 2007 by Mick B
Categories: Uncategorized

YES ! It appears that Sony have done it again. In their zeal to make their DVD movies copyproof (yeah right) they have in fact made their latest releases unplayable on some DVD players, including my Sony DVP-CX995V DVD player. I recently rented “Stranger than Fiction” (2 copies) and “The Holiday” ( please no comments on my choice of movies) both by Sony Pictures. Both load up to the splash title screen and then load no further, then after about 60 secs the player turns itself off!

more at:
http://sonystrikesagain.wordpress.com/

customer impressions at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/discussionboard/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&asin=B000A3XRSO&st...TxMTISI233EAQZ

[AlecWest]

I'm uncertain where this came from (possibly "The Art of War"), but this might be one of those times when the advice, "Use greater force against itself," is good. I think we should all go to a neighborhood video store, rent the film, then take it back the next day complaining that it won't play (even if it does). If enough people complained, and video rental or sales stores ended up giving out multiple refunds or rental credits, the stores would start turning their own screws on the issue.

When Joe Blow buys/rents one DVD and complains, that's one thing. But when rental and sales retailers who buy umpteen copies complain ... and possibly threaten to remove titles off their shelves ... Sony might take a different attitude.

[ntscuser]

Not that new. I know of at least two people who had problems playing Ultimate James Bond titles when they were released by Sony on PAL last year. The discs locked up on the menu.

[waheed]

Another nail in the coffin.

I would return any DVD that wont play to the store for a refund. Product not fit for the purpose it was made for, therefore full refund is due.

When will movie studios learn, copy protection schemes (not to mention waste of money) do not work, they limit the number of genuine customers buying them.

Rather than spending billions, if not millions of $$$ on copy protection schemes, why not just put all the effort and money in making a decent movie for a change that customers will appreciate and buy.

Copy protections schemes does not affect the pirates in any way, just harms the end consumer who spent their hard earched cash in buying the DVD with problems.

As it has been said before, if it can be viewed, it can be copied.

[SCDVD]

I think this is hilarious. I can't tell you how happy I am to see these guys burned by their sick carry-on. This DRM stuff has become an obsession with these guys and as with other obsessions, good judgment goes out the window. The mental cases behind this stuff truly don't care about any customer inconvenience they may cause. In their target fixation of "DRM or bust", ANY consequences of their obsessive behavior are immaterial to them. They will root kit you PC; they will sell you crap that doesn't work, or any other stunt that enters their pea brains just so long as they can kiss-ass their board of directors with their "DRM mission accomplished" shuck and jive crap.

There are a lot of DRM protected DVDs out there that have less than total failure to play problems. One manifestation of these problems are stutters and pauses while the player is trying to recover from deliberate damage done to the structure of the disc - all in the name of the Holy Grail - Digital Rights Management. Do you think they care about the degraded viewing quality of the disc? Not for one nanosecond!

[oldandinthe way]

I have to admit that I enjoy stories like this.

It is an example of anal-retentive behavior x 2.

First SONY builds DVD players which implement the DVD standard in a manner that turns the grey areas in the standards to into errors, and then it's motion picture studio implements DRM in a manner which stretches the DVD standard so that it is most likely to generate incompatibilities with their own products.

My sympathies to the CEO of SONY, whenever he turns his back on pieces of the company, they return to behaving like SONY.

[AlecWest]

Just curious. Has there ever been an article indicating what, in real dollars, the "rootkit" debacle cost Sony? It didn't happen all that long ago and this new debacle can't be helping Sony's public image ... not to mention its bottom line.

BTW, speaking of rootkits, AVG UK (British partner to Grisoft) came out with free anti-rootkit software 6 days ago:

http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/setup/avgarkt-setup-1.1.0.42.exe

[vico1]

Sony's Think Tank is a JOKE!...all I have to say... :P

[SCDVD]

One of the ironies of this is that not only is their copy protection obsession futile, it also diverts funding away from identifying and prosecuting pirates. The money they spend on copy protection schemes is futile. The only thing it does is create problems for their customers. I have said it before and I'll it again; I'm convinced that Sony's primary objective is to circumvent Fair Use. If they spent the money they spend on anti Fair Use stunts on the aggressive pursuit of pirates instead, they might at least make a small dent in this illegal activity.

Maybe it's time for a shareholder revolt about this squandering of company money on a vain and futile endeavor. At the end of the day, the money that Sony is flushing down the toilet is the shareholder's money. If they speak with a loud enough voice, the "operators" who are doing all of this will have to listen - or find a new job.

[gll99]

Even your average everyday consumer who knows nothing about copy protection is getting hit. In his mind after trying multiple discs all he will understand is that Sony brand DVD players are cr@p because they won't play the disc he bought. If Sony brand DVD players are cr@p then it's probably the same with their cameras, televisions, players and other electronic devices. Other customers in the store hear the frustration as customers complain about these Sony discs and returning their Sony players that are not working. No one complains too quietly because store clerks usually blame the customers lack of expertise with the product so the discussion tends to quickly draw a crowd of ears and eyes. Of course this consumer also tell his friends, family, coworkers and even acquaintances in casual conversation about how Sony has really gone downhill and to watch out for these faulty Sony products. Word gets around quickly as people repeat the story on and on, so not wanting problems people stop buying defective Sony products.

Sony tries to regain market shares so they advertise which costs money and lower prices which again costs money, then some flunky pulls another stunt like this and people are back to thinking and saying that Sony products are junk.

Name and brand recognition can cut 2 ways. It's easy for them to create the impression that Sony products are seriously flawed and to equate Sony products with problems. This time it's not just computer users who are affected, Sony expanded and hit their main customer base, the average everyday consumer.

btw) It's been stated in another thread if they are shown to have deliberately introduced errors on their DVD discs they could be an easy target for another massive lawsuit, possibly costlier than the last one. Even other brands of DVD players could sue them for lost business, returns and opportunity due the confusion caused by these non-standard DVD discs. I know I'll be checking the label before I buy anything else.

[akrako1]

General Rule of Thumb I've heard in the retail world is that one satisfied customer will tell one friend about a positive experience - while one dissatisfied customer will loudly tell 10 friends about their negative experience... Not sure if this is factually true, or just used to jack-up customer service staff, but even if it's partly true, Sony might be in for some more problems...

[SCDVD]

One of the problems in a company as large as Sony is the functional compartmentalization of the company's staff. The people who are responsible for sales and marketing are far removed from the DRM staff. Unfortunately there is a tendency for these people to look at the world around them with a very narrow perspective. Customer support, customer satisfaction, maximize sales etc. don't have any bearing on the way some obsessed DRM goon approaches his job. The only way these things are brought into a balanced perspective is if the top management gets burned badly enough that they are forced to "fix" things. Even then, it often doesn't last lost before another set of dimwits screws something else up.

[j1d10t]

btw) It's been stated in another thread if they are shown to have deliberately introduced errors on their DVD discs they could be an easy target for another massive lawsuit, possibly costlier than the last one. Even other brands of DVD players could sue them for lost business, returns and opportunity due the confusion caused by these non-standard DVD discs.

If these are "non-standard" DVDs, how can Sony get away with using the DVD Video logo on the package/disc? Doesn't it have to conform to the DVD standard to be able to display the DVD video logo?

If I got a DVD that would not play in my player because of something the manufacturer did to it, there would be Hell to pay. Especially if it doesn't say anywhere on the box that the disc uses a new copy protection that might not play on all players. If they put that disclaimer then there probably isn't much you could do (can't say for sure though), but if they don't put a disclaimer on the box someplace.....

[AlecWest]

(Devil's Advocate Mode)

My Yamakawa DVD275 all-region player plays just about anything with a shiny surface. And though "Stranger Than Fiction" and "The Holiday" are not the kind of films I'd see at a theater (and would probably never rent), I decided to put both DVDs (and my player) to the test and rented both.

"Stranger Than Fiction" played through from beginning to end without a hitch, whimper or burp. However, there were two anomalies with "The Holiday" ... or maybe just one. The first one may not be an issue ... but, instead of a menu coming up, the screen went black for about 5 seconds. Then, the movie just started (no previews, no FBI warnings, nothing). It played through without a hitch until it reached Chapter 20 at the 2:37 mark. Then, the picture just froze. I remoted back to the beginning of Chapter 20 and, sure enough, freeze-up at 2:37 again. So, I took the DVD out of the player and inspected the surface. It looked like it had never been played by anyone - absolutely shiny without any flaws or wear. So, I put it back in and remoted to Chapter 20. At the 2:37 mark, it hesitated for a fraction of a second then jumped to 2:38 (you could see the "jump"). The rest of the DVD played flawlessly and, afterward, a menu came up.

So, "Stranger Than Fiction" played no differently than any other DVD I've rented. But, "The Holiday" obviously had some issue at that one particular point in the video.

I'm wondering if the people who notice these issues all own high-end players (like a Sony) ... and that persons with more budget-oriented players escape them. The Amazon forum linked to in the first post to this thread includes a post from someone who says her JVC player played "Stranger Than Fiction" just fine.

P.S. Oddly, after thinking about it, I actually enjoyed both films - "The Holiday" best of all.

[rkr1958]

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004150.html

...

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."

[rbatty11]

AlecWest,

Yep.. friend of mine called me saying Holiday kept freezing at Ch. 20 (don't know of time) and if there was a fix.. now i know.

[MOVIEGEEK]

"Sony DADC has offered its customers ARccOS copy protection for more than two years"

Thank you Sony,I really appreciate the value-added copy-protection.
(sarcasm off)

[Rawit]

The funny thing is with those copy protections, 9 out of 10 times they don't offer any real protection against copying, and people start copying the dvd just to get rid of the protection. They can then burn a copy that plays in the stand-alone without locking up.
I thought Sony got smarter after the big CD copy protection lawsuit and the loads of complaints they had when their CD's wouldn't play in stand-alone's and car stereo's, but apparently that isn't the case .

[SCDVD]

The funny thing is with those copy protections, 9 out of 10 times they don't offer any real protection against copying.

10 out of 10

[AlecWest]

"Sony DADC has offered its customers ARccOS copy protection for more than two years"

Thank you Sony,I really appreciate the value-added copy-protection.
(sarcasm off)

(sarcasm on)

Wasn't it just a matter of days after ARccOS came out that DVDfab Decrypter cracked it? It might be interesting to "lay bets" among friends as to how long it will take to crack Clefia after the first titles come out.

(sarcasm off again)

[JCWBobC]

If you select the chapter option and then click on the first chapter the Sony title should play normally. It's only when you click Play on the main menu that you have the problem. At least that is how it is on the JVC DVD players.

[handyguy]

Assume that you own it

Sony is replacing ARccOS copy-protected DVDs that are "incompatible" with a small number of DVD players. There are 20 DVD titles affected including Open Season, Casino Royal, Stranger Than Fiction, Rocky Balboa, and The Holiday. So many of recently release Sony/MGM/Columbia DVD movies.

You can call the following number: 800-860-2878

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004150.html

[spybart]

I just successfully backed up the Holiday and Casino Royale DVDs.

owned!

[Osm3um]

First I must point out that I have avoided buying any Sony labeled items since the root kit fiasco.

Second, DRM is stupid.

I wonder, however, if anyone would have fronted the necessary funding for a film(s) like "Lord of the Rings" if DRM did not exist and it was readily available for free? A risk like that is calculated and if there is a good chance of not getting a return on investment....

Note: I downloaded the first Lord of the Rings via P2P early on. This was before sharing movies was "illegal". Also note that I have purchased the standard version, the extended versions and a collectors version...

Bob

[Rich86]

Also note that I have purchased the standard version, the extended versions and a collectors version...Bob

Although the movie studios truly appreciate you, they probably still won't be happy until you have to pay them again every time you watch this film that you've purchased to own 3 times already . . .