HP hit by class action over DVD+RW claims

Quite a persuasive one, too...

HP has been hit by a class action, claiming it misrepresented the capabilities of its DVD100i drive. The complaint, filed in Clark County Nevada, says that HP "manufactured, marketed and/or sold these drives with the representation that they would be able to write the less expensive DVD+R discs," but that such representations were subsequently 'disappeared', and that purchasers of the first generation of drives must now buy a $99 upgrade in order to obtain the features originally promised.

Followers of the great DVD+RW scandal/cockup will note that all of this sounds ominously true. The filing cites the press release issued by the DV+RW Alliance in May 2001 promising this capability. HP reproduced this, but subsequently deleted it from its site. It also cites an Alliance FAQ which said: "The upgrade program interface will be intuitive and easy to use. With a few simple clicks, consumers will be able to add DVD+R capabilities to their DVD+RW drives. Philips and HP will make the DVD+R software upgrade DVD+ available this fall."

HP's own FAQ now says that the 100i won't write DVD+R, but the complaint says: "prior to launching sales of the product, Defendants realized that the product would never be compatible with the DVD+R format," and that on discovering this "Defendants simply and quietly purged the false representations as to the universal compatibility of the product."

All this and Walter too! More information and discussion thread can be found at DVDplusRW.org.