Samsung gets sued over Blu-ray incompatibility issues

Samsung gets sued over Blu-ray incompatibility issues
According to court papers filed late last week, the electronics manufacturing giant Samsung has had a class action lawsuit filed against it by early adopters of the BDP-1200 Blu-ray player which has had compatibility issues with a few Blu-ray discs.

The man behind the suit, a Connecticut man by the name of Bob McGovern, said he filed the suit "on behalf of thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands" of BDP-1200 buyers who only later found out that the player was "incompatible with numerous Blu-ray disc titles."



Although the suit does not mention which titles the player is incompatible with or what makes them incompatible, McGovern alleges that "Samsung was fully aware" of the problem at the time of manufacturing yet it has still not updated or repaired the player.

The Fantastic Four sequel, one of the problem discs was previously reported but Samsung said that the problems were fixed by a firmware update. This is clearly not the case for McGovern and many other early adopters.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Feb 2008 14:18
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  • 20 comments
  • vinny13

    Lol free Blu-Ray players for everyone effected!

    :P

    11.2.2008 16:54 #1

  • silk42

    I think this was inevitable. With that being said, I don't expect to see Samsung being found guilty of any wrongdoing.

    It's a price one pays for being an early adopter. I wish I could sue every company that sold me something that was later found to be unable to work with newer technology.

    11.2.2008 16:55 #2

  • goodswipe

    That's the biggest cop out I've heard today. Newer technology would be something like my SCSI drives not working with my SAS controller, not someone owning a Blu-ray player and not being able to watch Blu-ray movies on it. LMFAO

    11.2.2008 17:01 #3

  • vinny13

    Hey on the plus side maybe all of these "losers" will buy PS3s :D

    11.2.2008 17:03 #4

  • domie

    I shelled out for the 60 GB PS3 8 months ago , many thought I was stupid but I had a feeling then that blu ray would win out over HD-DVD - I paid the extra just for this type of scenario - I am not even interested in games ( too lazy to learn how to play them well ) but at least it's there when my nephew comes around !
    As for the rest, I can safely update to any blu ray new stuff like profile 1.1 and probably 2.0 with the Sony PS3 and I've since learned what fun I can have by playing my MP3s, DiVX files, WMV files through the HDD or externasl HDD and play DTS Audio encoded DVDs, Blu Ray films and even upload my photos to the big screen. It's more than I expected to be able to do with it so I can't complain really.

    I doubt very much that this class action will have any joy over a few incompatible blu ray discs unless the warranty specifically states that it will play every blu ray disc both present and future and I think we all know that it never guaranteed that much.

    11.2.2008 20:18 #5

  • _H06_

    thats it, im gonna go file a suit because sony sold me a tape player that cant play CD's.

    11.2.2008 22:34 #6

  • UkWizard

    That's what you get for supporting blu-ray. I've not heard any problems with hd-dvd yet.Remember betamax sony, betamax in the making. LMFAO

    11.2.2008 23:27 #7

  • plutonash

    domie there is no guarantees that the ps3 can upgrade to any profiles. you may just get screwed.

    12.2.2008 00:34 #8

  • ripxrush

    That would be like me buying a car that uses this new unleaded gasoline & then there is some minor change in the gas that wont let me buy the gas on the market! I understand the early adopter thing but i know with early adoption you will pay a higher price & may not have as many "features" but suddenly saying that my blu ray player wont play blu ray disks is BS! & there have been issues with HD DVD i my self have hd dvd & have had no issues but there have been a lit of unplayable disks such as superman!

    12.2.2008 02:24 #9

  • nobrainer

    selling hardware that they knew would be incompatible because the were selling an incomplete format, well i don't know about you but i feel if they never alerted anyone to the fact that their purchases would be obsolete within a year they deserve to be sued as do the Blu-ray Disc Association for allowing profile 1.0

    but what do you expect from the anti consumer companies behind Drm-Ray?

    The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.

    The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.

    The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!

    The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

    How do you stop anti consumer = its easy purchase only second hand media and avoid their propertarian hobbled by DRM hardware! http://www.boycott-riaa.com/

    12.2.2008 06:30 #10

  • emugamer

    Originally posted by _H06_: thats it, im gonna go file a suit because sony sold me a tape player that cant play CD's.No lawyer would take that one on your behalf. Maybe if it was a CD player that didn't play CD's.

    Did Samsung really know that there would be a generation of blu-ray discs that would not be compatible with their player? Where is McGovern getting his info that Samsung was "fully aware?"

    It would be sad if he was actually representing tens of thousands of people who bought into bluray when it first came out. I want to believe that there aren't that many people out there who would frivolously throw that much money away so early on.

    12.2.2008 12:04 #11

  • silk42

    Originally posted by silk42: I think this was inevitable. With that being said, I don't expect to see Samsung being found guilty of any wrongdoing.

    It's a price one pays for being an early adopter. I wish I could sue every company that sold me something that was later found to be unable to work with newer technology.
    Originally posted by goodswipe: That's the biggest cop out I've heard today. Newer technology would be something like my SCSI drives not working with my SAS controller, not someone owning a Blu-ray player and not being able to watch Blu-ray movies on it. LMFAOIt's called being sarcastic. I said that I don't expect Samsung to be found guilty of any wrongdoing. In my opinion we live in a world today where people simply look for reasons to sue someone. I think it's totally wrong and would only support lawsuits where someone is actually harmed. Not being able to watch a movie or two is no reason to sue.

    With that being said, where do you draw the line? I have plenty of PC's that won't play all PC games. Should I sue for that? Of course not, there are system requirements that need to be met. In the case of Blu-Ray, certain movies have requirements for certain Profiles and if your player doesn't meet that profile, then you need to upgrade (or not watch that movie).

    12.2.2008 12:25 #12

  • 2colors

    Buy HD DVD. They made it right the 1st time.

    12.2.2008 21:10 #13

  • vinny13

    Originally posted by 2colors: Buy HD DVD. They made it right the 1st time.And yet it's losing :P

    12.2.2008 23:29 #14

  • varnull

    I think when it comes to "fair value" you do expect an expensive device to be a little more futureproof than 1 year.. or is this the future.. change your format every 12 months, and force your customers to buy new hardware every time.. At least it will put the extended warranty scammers out of business.



    Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work.... Commercial "pay for" software = made by software developers who want paying... see where I'm going with this?

    12.2.2008 23:33 #15

  • UkWizard

    Quote:Originally posted by 2colors:
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Buy HD DVD. They made it right the 1st time.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    And yet it's losing :PQuote:I think the blu-ray fanboys are forgetting one thing here, we have still got 2 of the biggest film studios in the world. Paramount and Universal which are tupac shakur compared to the fresh prince.

    13.2.2008 00:44 #16

  • Ludikhris

    If the option to upgrade firmware is there, this is goundless. However, if discs just don't work they should be suing whomever is out of spec. There is a standard afterall.

    14.2.2008 02:57 #17

  • elroy2055

    I Have the Samsung BDP-1000 and some of the movies I have play fine while others are glitchy almost unwatchable. I'm almost certain that it's a firmware issue because before I did the last upgrade i could only watch dvd's. I tell ya it seems like the old xbox deal, When the 360 came out microsoft and most of the game publishers totally left us xbox1 owners in the cold. Oh well I guess were screwed again left with a hi dollar item we can't use lol.

    14.2.2008 08:47 #18

  • vinny13

    Quote:Quote:Originally posted by 2colors:
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Buy HD DVD. They made it right the 1st time.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    And yet it's losing :PQuote:I think the blu-ray fanboys are forgetting one thing here, we have still got 2 of the biggest film studios in the world. Paramount and Universal which are tupac shakur compared to the fresh prince.Where's the oner 5, Tupac? :P

    14.2.2008 16:58 #19

  • borhan9

    Come on we all know that new technology will always have teething problems this is really unfair for samsung.

    7.4.2008 21:37 #20

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