DVD Security Tape is a Nightmare! (1 Viewer)

[Justin W]

there's a trick to that too. unhinge the bottom hinge and flip the front of the case up and over. it comes off easily after that.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Count me in that group, too.

If you don't own an X-Acto knife by now, you ain't
takin' yur DVD collecting seriousely!

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I'm a proud hand-opener! What if you scratch your case?

 

[Ilias_Mas]

I understand that it is there for a reason, but in many cases there are 3 tapes. Why, oh why?
I order most of my dvd's online and they all arrive wrapped in plastic. It can also be frustrating, but when I finally remove it, then the tapes and I open the case... Oh my, isn't that smell sweet?
OK, I have a problem, I admit...

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Thanks, I'll try that. Actually, I really don't care about the condition of the case. Since I got an iPod and a iPod compatible head unit for my car, the case gets opened, the CD gets ripped, the artwork is scanned and filed, the CD gets stored in a flip case and the case gets pitched out. Since I don't care about the case, I've been scratching the sticker off with a key, but I'll try your way too, since I don't care much about the hinge either.

 

[Vader]

With the regular tape, I don't have a problem. Like mentioned, I make sure that the insert is not misaligned when I buy it (kinda hard on mail orders, though). Using my fingernail, I "bunch up" the tape above the insert, on the case plastic. This pulls enough off of the clear plastic to get a grip on and gently pull off. However, FOX has started to use a thinner, cheaper security tape. This stuff not only uses what appears to be super glue (so the tape actually leaves a layer of itself on the case), but what does come off does so in a billion tiny pieces and slivers. This is as bad a problem as "crap cases" (ones whos hub grips the disc to within an inch of it's life). I would estimate that I end up replacing 1 out of every 4 cases from something like this...

Someone once told me that it is actually illegal to remove the magnetic security device some cases have inside. Well, does that mean that I cannot replace damaged cases with good ones that lack the magnetic strip? I would love to see some bottom-feeding lawyer try to enforce that one...

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I hate knives (I invariably cut myself) so one of the godsends for my DVD collection is Video Watchdog's claw, which uses a little ceramic nub that's not sharp, but it efficiently cuts through the plastic and the security tape and allows the tape to be removed easily. It doesn't work so well with those annoying latch-type cases, but it works fine on everything else, plus CDs, and doesn't damage the case at all.

http://www.videowatchdog.com/home/claw.htm


No more sliced fingers! :b

 

[Paul McElligott]

I just keep a box cutter near my entertainment center for dealing with tape and shrink wrap. I've managed to open a couple hundred DVDs and CDs without drawing blood.

 

[TravisR]

I'd guess that once you own the disc that removing the security tag is about as illegal as removing the tags on your matress.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yeah the problem is when you get a disk that the Artwork has slipped down and gotten Stuck on the security tape even cutting the tape with a knife won't help you there

 

[Alex-A]

If that is the case then I guess I'm in deep trouble. Every time I buy a new DVD (and some used ones for that matter) once I open the case that's the first thing to go. I'd also love to see someone try to tell me it's illegal to remove these things since I own the DVD and don't plan on reselling it...

 

[GarySchrock]

I had one of those from a different company (same thing basically, a few places sell them). It does work pretty well, although they can scratch the case too (not too badly, so I don't worry about it myself). Now if only I could figure out where I put the stupid thing.

 

[Ric Easton]

I never used to have a problem with the sticky tape at all. Those days are over. I just damaged 3 cases trying to get the tape off. The tape seems a lot more "stickier" than it used to be. When I do manage to get them off without damaging the case, I'm often left with that sticky residue. Almost all my Fox Film Noirs have it. Fortunately they were converted to thinpaks.

 

[Will_B]

Frankly I still miss the old kind of plastic wrap that could actually be removed with human hands. At some point in the last ten or fifteen years they came up with the new super-strong plastic wrap we see today - the kind that gets stronger the more you try to stretch it.

 

[James.G]

I've damaged too many Amaray cases to mention doing this. It doesn't hurt as much when it happens with one of the now standard el-cheapo keep cases because I promise myself I'm going to replace it with an Amaray even though I never do. :frowning:

 

[Matthew Clayton]

I was surprised and delighted to see that my Amazon order of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 2-Disc Special Edition and Fantastic Four each only had one piece of easy-to-removie security tape on the top.

 

[Kevin M]

Ditto, I use a box opener along the three sides (if I do scratch the case it will be in the seam and therefore unnoticeable) open the case and then peel off the tape, all in all it takes about 30 to 40 seconds to do this. Pretty simple.