I don't know how it is in other countries than Norway, but here the distributors wants to save money. At least some of them. Some BD's are released with a digital copy (an actual disc enclosed) and some distributors just have a download link with a code enclosed to enter to download the copy. when I bought Gran Torino and The curious case of Benjamin Button, there also was a link and code to download the digital copy. BUT! a sticker on the case said it was only valid to some month in 2010. Can they really do that? Set a limit on when we can download it? What if I choose to download the digital copy in july 2011? I can't do it... and also the sticker is atatched to the foil around the case, so as we all know, the foil goes into the recycle bin
That means they are selling a product which not are complete. When they enclose the disc, it's ok, when they enclose the code without any expiration date it's ok. But it's not ok to set an expiration date in my opinion. If I download it befor the date, I will have it on my computer, but as we all know, like guarantees, things crash the day after it expires... So how is it in other countries?

Just to clearify, I'm not interested in those digital copies either, but it's strange that they do it like that. It should be a feature that lasts. And as you say, when the expiration is over, we should remove it from the "other features" as you say, no matter if it's was released with it. The feature isn't there anymore. It's gone, vanished, no longer etc etc...
Regarding BD-Live, I don't know... some features may be there for years... some may not... hmmm looking forward to cleaning up the profiles in about 5-10 years, with alot of ping-pong... It was originally released with BD-Live... Cover says BD-Live... I can't access BD-Live anymore....

Quoting MtnMike:

Quote:
I've seen the same deal here in the states on digital downloads bearing an expiration date.  Fortunately for me, I've no interest in a digital download so it doesn't bother me. I guess we have to treat these as if they were perishable foodstuffs - you can buy that moldy loaf of bread after the expiration date, but you sure as heck won't want to consume it.

But it brings up this question in my mind: should we bother to be profiling these?  Once the expiration date has past, these will essentially be nothing more than complimentary coasters anyway.  On a similar note, I predict that "BD Live" as a feature is a doomed animal as well.  You cannot expect the studios to maintain web presense beyond a finite date not too long from the release date.

Personally, I would never profile them.  At best, they contain a datafile, completely unreadable in a DVD player.

Quoting Forget_the_Rest:

Quote:
Quite a few that I've seen have said "May not be available after ...". I think that this is really to cover their backs in case something goes wrong. I mean, who's to say that the company responsible for the downloads will still exist in 5 years. I really see it as another example of having to have clauses like that in there to avoid problems later.

I'm pretty sure they're serious about the expiration dates.  I started downloading a few recently.  I couldn't download the file for "Harry Potter...Phoenix" because they said it was no longer available (the expiration date was 12/31/08, I think, and I tried to download in June 2009).

I'm not that interested in the feature, either, but just bought an external hard drive with plenty of space and figured, why not?