a question about smartflix

[ugafan]

i know this is kind of a touchy subject around here, but i have a quick question.

by their own admission, smartflix rents out some dvds that are dvd+/- r
and are labeled by hand.

how in the world can they defend as dvd-r with the title written on with a sharpie as a legitimate copy? has anyone ever heard of someone distributing their work in such a manner?

my apologies if this has already been discussed.

 

[TwistedLincoln]

I'm not 100%, but I seem to remember them stating that they rent the DVDs out in the same condition that they purchase them. So if somebody sells them a DVD with a crappy handwritten label, that's how they rent them.

Now personally, as much as I've defended Smartflix's actions regarding the rentals in general, that sounds like a load of crap... I can't imagine anyone short of a 13 year old kid selling an instructional DVD with a handwritten label...

Renting burned DVDs wouldn't be that suspicious by itself, as many legitimate sellers provide their content on burned media instead of paying for replication. But I've never seen one who wouldn't spring for a 10 cent label...