re self destructing copy protection on vhs tape klp doe carleton ca ka lun pang writes hi folks i borrowed a vhs tape from a friend and it has a warning in the begining sayi that attempts to copy the tape will result in destroying the copy and the original i found this unbelievable as playing and recording are two differen processes however i ve never seen this tape being sold anywhere so i don t want to take the chance even it s small anyone has experience in this kind of self destructing video tapes thanks in advance ka lun pang a k a andy lost between frequency and time on the unit circ email klp doe carleton ca dod to put it bluntly they are full of it paying a tape is playing a tape there is no difference whether the output goes to a second vcr or to a tv how the vcr or tv reacts to this signal is a different story see messages pertaining to macrovision copy protection in order for the tape to self destruct it would have to have circuitry of its own within the tape case the circuit would have to somehow magically determine what the output of the vcr is connected to the circuit would then have to have an erasing head to actually do anything it is a pretty lame scare tactic i ve seen something similar on a bbs when the sysop wanted to he could have a message sent to the user s end saying that it is sending the code to format your hd victor inqmind bison mb ca the inquiring mind bbs winnipeg manitoba
