Why can't you sell old DIVX movies on Ebay? (1 Viewer)

[GaryEA]

Before everybody starts hurling tomatoes at me for bringing up the dreaded DIVX name, I really have a legit question. So... please hear me out, and THEN throw.
I've had a small stack of DIVX movies that my uncle handed to me before he moved because he though I could use them. They're still sealed, and the CC stickers are still on. No bigie, right?
So today, I put them up on Ebay. I've seen others there before and I thought, "What the hell?"
Two hours later, I got this...

We regret to inform you that your listing:
1543511252 LOT OF NINE DIVX MOVIES
has been ended early by eBay because it appears to
offer material that violates someone's copyright,
trademark, or other rights. Your listing could violate state or federal law, and leaving it up could expose you and your bidders to legal liability. In the interest of
protecting all eBay users, we end such listings to
avoid any association with potentially infringing or
unlawful items. All bidders have been notified, and any
associated fees have been credited to your account.

It goes on and on about selling "Prohibited,
Questionable or Infringing items" was unlawful and so on.
Am I missing something? Outside of not being supprted anymore by any studio or vendor, how are these discs illegal?
Really, I'm stumped. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
Gary

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Ebay is assuming that your DIVX DVD's are actually video ripped from regular DVD's compressed using the DiVX codec.

 

[Joel C]

They probably thought you were selling VCDs or something.

 

[David Lambert]

Let me go a bit deeper than Kyle did:
There is a codec out there that is used by video pirates to encode video information into computer files. Those files can be stored on Hard Drives, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Zip discs, Jaz discs, etc.
In "honor", I guess you could say, of the Divx format that YOU are talking about, the hackers/pirates who invented the codec dubbed it "Divx", properly spelled "DivX;-)". It is very much in use all over the internet, much to the dismay of the copyright holders and the authorities, even though a broadband connection can still require literally hours to download some of the bigger files!
So these days, it is assumed that when the word "Divx" is used, it means the pirate video files, not the now-defunct DVD-type pay-per-use disc format. Automatic parsers probably saw that, flagged it, and you were sent the cancel note. A human might not even have been involved!
As far as the value of those sealed Divx discs, there is none. The discs are worthless because the players require hookup via telephone line to the Divx billing center in order to play those discs. That center is long since closed, dude. No Divx discs work anymore. Noone has successfully hacked a way into making them work, and I'm not sure anyone's too interested, honestly.
They are good as museum pieces and that's about it. Find a nostalgia buff to take them off your hands in a private sale!
Go here for more info about the current state of the Divx format and the uselessness fo the discs. A quote from that section is that "Divx discs are no longer playable in any players". Go here for more about the DivX;-) codec.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

"Divx discs are no longer playable in any players".

A few players belonging to high-ranking Divx and Circuit City employees were "unlocked", but just a few. Apparently each title had to be "unlocked" separately, too.

There was also a semi-hack for players, but they had to be registered and in good standing for it to work (the player's internal clock was stopped, causing the player to lose track of elapsed billing periods and the expiry of the account).

RD

 

[Joseph Bolus]

What a format!!
One can only wonder if the rumors were true that Lucas was going to release P&S versions of the Star Wars OT to Divx in November 2000!
(Don't laugh! The OT *is* available on the Fox-supported RCA Selectavision CED format!!)

 

[Robert Dunnill]

I doubt it, although BTTF 1 & 2 was slated for the fall of 1999, and a 16x9-enhanced version of Titanic was in the works, too.

Nothing unusual about a CED release of the original Star Wars; it also was released to VHS and laserdisc, and CED was a popular format at one time.

RD

 

[Jack Briggs]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the first time I've seen--*ugh!*--those ... letters ... in a thread title here at good ol', faithful HTF since way back when.
Made the heart skip a beat.

 

[Craig_T]

Ebay unfairly assumed you were selling pirated movies. I'd be pretty insulted and pissed off if I were you. Damn, DIVX sure is dead when it's being mistaken by major companies as a different format entirely...

 

[Adam Barratt]

Good timing. We're just four days away from the third anniversary of Divx's demise!

Adam

 

[Robert Dunnill]

Yes, that's too bad - I picked up some great Divx-related items on eBay last year, including a rare prototype JVC XV-DX1 player (only a dozen or so in existence). The seller of the player was even kind enough to provide free of charge a T-shirt, a cap, several pens, balloons, and a key fob.

Damn, DIVX sure is dead when it's being mistaken by major companies as a different format entirely...

During the phaseout period, some of the Divx sellers active on eBay tried to get eBay to adopt a policy/FAQ on the format, but eBay decided it wasn't worth the effort (even though many people bought Divx discs by mistake, thinking they were DVDs).

RD

 

[Duane Robinson]

Either way the person buying the discs would have gotten screwed since the discs are basically coasters now.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

If eBay required sellers of such discs to post an appropriate disclaimer, they'd have saved many buyers a lot of grief. I did a quick check on eBay, and there are still plenty of Divx discs up for auction.

RD

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Made the heart skip a beat.

I am beginning to slobber and drool...

- Steve

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Whaddaya mean they're "not playable"?? I have 15 DIVX discs that play just fine- put it in the player and you get a screen that says "You have attempted to play a Divx disc in a DVD player without the Divx feature. The Divx Feature is required to play this disc. For more information on Divx please call 1-800-456-DIVX." Only "Aquaria" is a more exciting disc than these!

 

[David Lambert]

Hey...I **LIKE** Aquaria!!

 

[MichaelAW]

Just out of curiousity, what happens if you call that 1-800 # Jesse mentioned? It costs to call that number from Sweden, so I'm asking a Stateside poster to do so and report back.

 

[David Lambert]

"We're sorry. The call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number, and try your call again."

 

[KlausWinkler]

>If eBay required sellers of such discs to post an >appropriate disclaimer, they'd have saved many buyers a >lot of grief. I did a quick check on eBay, and there are >still plenty of Divx discs up for auction.


I guess anyone trying to buy a Divx-Copy deserves what he gets...

 

[Matt DeVillier]

There is a codec out there that is used by video pirates to encode video information into computer files. Those files can be stored on Hard Drives, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Zip discs, Jaz discs, etc.

David,
that's a pretty unfair characterization of DivX. DivX is now a built-from-scratch MPEG-4 based video codec that has many uses outside of the piracy of DVDs. Would it be fair to characterize MPEG-2 the same way since it's used to distrbute SVCD dvd rips?
Anyways, you should have linked to the official DiVX FAQ here instead, since the dvd demystified one is terribly out of date.