Hi,
It had to happen!!! - I have just verrified that there IS a Virus which has been found on pirated DVD's. Some say the movie industry is responsible for creating it. :-) (I doubt it).
No, this is not April fools joke. The virus has no effect when DVD's are played in your PC but renders quite a large number of conventional DVD players useless. The affected DVD's have ".BIN' and/or ".HEX" files on them.
A number of conventional (stand-alone) DVD players search the DVD for a .hex or .bin file which it then uses to replace it's 'firmware' (the player's control program). The virus exploits this and after playing an infected DVD, your player is dead next time you turn it on. The only remedy is to get a replacement 'Firmware DVD' from the manufacturer. An un heard of request in the past...
A friend of mine wiped out two DVD players and a rented Projector system over the weekend.
Not that anyone on this forum is likely to have pirated DVD's, but if there is more interest in this, I will post specific instructions on how to 'look' at your DVD's to see if they are ok.
Paul