A Very Alarming DISCovery

January 26th, 2008 | Posted in General | No Comments »

When I originally watched Season 2, it was from DIVX downloads from the internet. I somehow ended up with DLM/S2E1-15 before they were released on DVD. When it was released on DVD it was one of the top items on my birthday/technomas list and my awesome parents are not the kind to disappoint about such things.

Last night while watching a marathon of Season 2 I made a very alarming DISCovery. I had never watched my 4 disc set before and when attempting to do so I found out that Disc 3 will not read in my Xbox 360, PS2, XBox, PC, or Mac. Each system responds differently but the net effect is exactly the same; the disc will not play.

I a hustle to continue with the marathon I turned to my archives of data to see if I still had the original DIVX files that I somehow ended up with so far back. It turns out that somewhere along the way I actually decided to delete them. I cannot imagine why I would intentionally delete anything; It is so unlike me. Once in a blue moon you might find me get rid of something that I know I have multiple copies of, but normally I prefer to waste double (triple [quadruple {quintuple |etc|}]) the space on some files for the purposes of making sure that I always have backups. I even take it as far as to make sure that I have the same file on most or all of my machines included my external storage devices.

My Dell laptop was wiped to install Linux, my PC didn’t have any copies, and my Mac was too new. The only place left was my 400 gig external backup. The only thing it contained was a single directory named DLM. Using data recovery software I was not able to find the remains of the original file on either the PC or the external backup. I can’t imagine why I would have deleted them but once again I’ve been reminded of the lesson I’ve had to learn over and over again: Delete nothing.

The pricks at the MPAA would tell us all that legally the only recourse we have is to repurchase the entire DVDs or return them to the retailer. Since most retailers no longer carry them, I would probably have to order them online. Since they were gifts from a couple of years ago it would be a pain to attempt to return them to any retailer. Even still, why should I have to repurchase the entire collection over one disc that didn’t work fresh out of the box?

I know it isn’t the MPAA’s problem that I didn’t watch the DVDs for a couple of years. It’s also not my problem that their business model is failing and they’re doing whatever they can to maintain their ridiculous strong-arm control over their revenue stream. It’s not that I don’t think performers deserve income. It’s just that I can’t find myself capable of giving a shit about the income stream of ridiculously overpaid executives.

To put this into perspective, the same corporate types who would sue me for having a digital copy of a file (which mind you I now own a “legal” copy of [albeit a somewhat useless one]) are the same types that the asses of which I will shove a defective DVD right up into should I ever meet them face to face. Cocksuckers.

Today I learned a very important lesson. If you somehow end up with a downloaded movie but later buy the disc, keep the download anyway. Physical media sucks.