Avatar Blu-Ray DRM Issues
geekd writes "Once again, DRM only hurts legit content purchasers: 'An unusual glitch has angered some Avatar Blu-ray owners. For these unlucky people, since the disc won't play on their Blu-ray players, their new Avatar DVD serves no real purpose other than to sit idly on the coffee table. ... It appears the main culprit concerning playback issues with Avatar is, ironically, the disc's DRM (digital rights management). ... Even with updated firmware, a lot of Blu-ray players weren't prepared for these security measures. Despite the security problems, bootleggers are having a field day. Pirated copies of Avatar, according to Los Angeles Times, were available as early as January.'"
Reader Murpster adds that this problem isn't specific to the Blu-ray version: "Got a regular Avatar DVD and it won't play on either of my DVD players. It will play on one computer DVD drive, if I want to watch it on a 12-inch screen."
HAW HAW
The thing I find most annoying is that while some things may be skippable (usually only the trailers), a lot of the time the "Menu" command is still blocked; you have to actually "Skip" (or occasionally "Fast Forward") multiple times to finally get to the menu.
As time goes on the prices will drop and the players will get less fragile; eventually Blu-ray will overtake DVD. It is inevitable.
Replace hours with years and you've just described our immigration system.