As a result of being snowed in, after a while I started to become stir crazy. So I broke out one of my Christmas presents, a DVD, and sat down to watch it, at which stage a red mist of rage descended.
Picture this: I have settled into a comfortable armchair, drink in hand. The DVD is spinning up and I am ready to relax and enjoy watching this movie. Then, out of the blue, some advertisement for an organisation called FACT pops up. I really don't want an advertisement at that point so I push the Fast Forward and Skips buttons but nothing happens. Somehow the unholy alliance between DVD player manufacturers and DVD manufacturers has led to this advertisement being the one mandatory piece of viewing on the entire DVD. I can skip the whole movie if I wish, but I can't skip the FACT advertisement.
So what is this advertisement for FACT? FACT is the self-righteous Federation Against Copyright Theft. Not everyone is a fan. I know I am not. Every time I want to watch my own, legal, DVD these illegitimate children of their parents steal a minute of my time and force me to watch this blasted ad. It's not even a convenient amount of time: too short to make a cup of coffee or take a comfort break. And it's on every legal DVD.
This is utterly bizarre when you think about it. What other industry does its best to annoy its legitimate customers?
I have no illegal DVDs or CDs in my house but if anything is likely to drive me to buy some it would be the promise that there would be no infuriating FACT advertisement on the DVD.
FACT is a right royal PITA.
Posts
3 comments:
Further proof that the world has threads of insanity.
And the additional irony is that pirated DVDs don't contain the FACT ad. So the ad is only viewed by people watching legal copies, not by people watching illegal ones.
No bigger battles to fight?
Post a Comment