“Single-play” DVD story a hoax, says Microsoft

The story we, and many others, posted yesterday about the development of a one-shot DVD which plays once only, is a hoax.

Ed Bott says :

There’s no truth to the story. None whatsoever. In fact, the original story sparked a flurry of e-mails around Microsoft as people in different groups tried to figure out where on earth this story came from. After the head-scratching stopped, a spokesmen told me, they concluded that the story was not true. “It appears to be confusing an existing feature within Windows Media DRM that allows for single-play of promotional digital material. This has been an option for content owners to use for some time for the Windows Media format – it does not apply to MPEG2 content found on DVDs.”

Robert Scoble says : “Yes, the news system can be hoaxed. But, it cleans itself out pretty fast. Bloggers, please include links to original sources and the source where you saw it. Also, correct any post where something false is reported. Help the system clean itself out.”

Happy to do so, gentlemen.