Watch Anytime, Anywhere…

I notice that some DVDs are now advertised as including a digital copy of the film, intended for playback on PCs, Smartphones and Tablets. I seem to recall that at one time, the digital copy was physically present on the DVD. These days, it seems as though you have to download it via the web. You go to a web site, type in the redemption code included with the DVD, and the digital copy gets downloaded to your PC.

Well, that’s the theory, anyway. I’ve just bought a DVD of ParaNorman from Amazon UK. It boasts that this pack includes DVD + Digital Copy™ + Ultraviolet™ so that you can “Watch Anytime, Anywhere”.

I thought that I’d download the Digital Copy for my tablet, but when I entered my redemption code on the web site, I was greeted with:

“Error occurred during token validation: Sorry, but this Digital Copy title is not available in your region”.

So much for “Watch Anytime, Anywhere”, then… It’s probably against EU law, but I doubt that Universal gives a damn about that. They’ll just carry on making it difficult for their paying customers.

Update: I tried raising the issue with technical support. They basically gave me the brushoff:

Hello,

We are sorry to tell you that the Digital Copy feature for this title is only available inside UK as the webpage is Geo-filtered. We regret the inconvenience caused.

Thank you.

Universal Digital Copy Support

Support Case Info:
Product: Universal Digital Copy
Issue: Technical Issues
Status: Resolved
Template: DC00045

I suggested to them that they might consider spelling out this limitation in their terms and conditions on the packaging…