Scott,



Certainly, you are within your rights to let others know about incompatibility 

issues -- it's simply a matter of consumer awareness.  But you should probably 

refrain from calling Tudor and Rowand "incompetent"; that strikes me as 

overstating your case and inappropriate.  Hopefully, you tried other ways to 

resolve the issue (exchanging the DVD, calling the disc manufacturer, etc) 

before resorting to such a blanket statement about the authors -- and even 

then, you should probably keep your statements focused on the particular 

qualities of the specific product at hand.  (For instance, you recognized that 

the problems with the Disney disc were not a matter of Disney's incompetence 

but, rather, a specific problem with that film on disc).  



But nothing here seems to satisfy to requirements for libel (especially Tudor's 

assertion that what you want is a different version of the film).  Libel is a 

very specific kind of offense that carries a heavy burden of proof.  Where your 

own statments might seem close to libel is in their potential damaging effects 

on Tudor and Rowand's business (nobody really wants to do business with a 

person whom others claim to be "incompetent").  But libel typically requires 

that the statements in question be stated as facts, not opinions (which your 

claims seem to be). 



J. Nichols-Pethick

  



Quoting Scott Hutchins <[log in to unmask]>:



> Miles Tudor, one of the authors of Decca's DVD of _The Death of Klinghoffer_,

> claimed that my assertion of his and Philip Rowands's incompetence authoring

> this DVD is libel.  He also claimed that what I desire is a pan and scan

> version of the film, which I turned around abd told him was libellous, since

> all I want is the film to play in its correct ratio, rather than squeezing. 

> The settings of my player have been checked and double checked, but I've

> never gotten the disc, which has a SRP of $29.99, to play properly.  I had

> the same problem with _Monsters, Inc._ and a Disney technician admitted that

> the problem was incompatibility.  As far as I'm concerned, if compatibility

> is an issue, it should state as such on the box.  The vast majority of 16x9

> enhanced discs play properly on my player.  I can only conclude that the few

> that do not are incompetent.

> 

> Am I in the wrong wrong for broadcasting this incompatibility?  I believe

> it's important for consumers to be informed of it so they don't waste money

> on an unwatchable DVD like I did.

> 

> Scott

> 

> 

> 

> 

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