How Disney Ruins Christmas

Kids everywhere who received the long anticipated Wall-E for Christmas (or any other Disney DVD for that matter) will have their Christmas spirits dashed unless they have one of the few DVD players that works with Disney and Pixar overzealous copyright protection. An informal estimate based on complaints posted across the Web seems to indicate that as many as 4 out of 5 DVD players won't run the Disney movie - though interestingly all of them have no problem playing the many adverts and previews that Disney has packed on. As one of the apparently many victims of Disney's zeal to prevent DVD ripping, I can attest that a legally purchased, brand new Wall-E DVD purchased at Best Buy will not play in any of the three DVD players we happen to own, though as others mentioned, the adverts and previews worked fine. Thanks, Disney. Merry Christmas to you, too.

Copyright protection is intended to prevent illegal ripping and filesharing. I don't condone illegal filesharing (it's akin to shoplifting) and illegal filesharing is dangerous (a sure vector to infection). However, knowingly distributing DVDs equipped with copyright protection that prevents the movie from playing on standard issue DVD players is equally distasteful. And according to the complaints posted on Russo Review, the problem of Disney movies not playing (save for the adverts and previews) also occurs on new Blu-Ray players as well. From Sony's rootkit to the non-playing Disney/Pixar movies, it seems the motion picture and recording industries are more interested in alienating the honest consumer than they are in providing entertainment.