Retailers in France, Italy and Scandinavia have introduced disposable DVD movies that can be viewed up for 48 hours, then self-destruct. German retailer DVD-D Germany Ltd is the latest to enter the fray with its 'Einmal' (German for 'once') line of titles.

DVD-D is the brainchild of a French company, based on Swiss technology. The marketing intention driving this development is the provision of an alternative to consumer disc rentals that require the return of a disc to a store, or by mail.

DVD-D is made of polycarbonate that contains an extra layer of coating that reacts to an oxidisation process that begins as soon as the disc is are removed from its vacuum-sealed packaging and exposed to air. The self-destruct process can be pre-set to occur between eight to 48 hours. Afterward, the DVD gives a 'No disc' error when put into a DVD player or PC. There appears to be no DRM (digital rights management).

The DVDs will sell for €3.99 and are available at kiosks, bookstores and gas stations.

The short-life DVD-D disc was launched back in 2004 at the Cannes Film Festival, which DVD Intelligence reported at the time. The first commercial release of the so-called ‘suicide platter’ was Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions, which won two prizes in Cannes 2003 and the 2004 Oscar of the Best Foreign Film.

Indeed, self-destruct DVDs are not a new idea. In 2003 Flexplay, an Atlanta, Georgia technology company, introduced disposable DVDs using its own self-destruct technology, dubbed EZ-D. This was met with fierce criticism from environmental groups, who slammed the notion of throwaway DVDs, though Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Flexplay's content partner at the time, had a recycling programme in place when it launched the initial test.

Flexplay stills offers disposable DVDs in the US – new releases include Beowulf – but its products seem pretty low-profile.

The makers of the DVD-D claim their product is much cheaper than Flexplay's EZ-D to produce. The company also says there are no ways to repair the disc after the weathering process has made it unreadable.

There are recordable DVD-D discs available which can be recorded at up to 8x speed and DVD-5 capacity. After ordering the blanks, the client can then specify how long the data is to remain, having the option of one-time viewing only, or a time period of 8 hours, 48 hours or otherwise.

Story filed 23.04.08