MAM-A responds to "fake" disc allegations

June 9, 2005

Recently there have been many hot debates and discussions regarding the use of "fake" Manufacturer IDentification codes by various optical disc manufacturers. One such discussion revolved around the use of a "YUDEN000T02" MID code on MAM-E manufactured media. The "YUDEN000T02" MID code is officially used by 8x DVD+R media that is manufactured by Taiyo Yuden Japan. The debate ensued and the discussion participants pondered why MAM-E was using the YUDEN000T02 MID code. Joseph Weisenbach, an Engineering Manager at MAM-A USA has responded to the speculation with the following statement, which was provided to cdfreaks.com via email.

Thank you for bringing to our attention the comments from end users regarding MAM-A's business practices. Some of the comments from the web suggested that MAM-A Inc. has used other MID codes without permission. MAM/CSI makes media for other manufacturers that they will sell under their own name and sometimes that agreement includes the use of their MID code. MAM/CSI has never used another companies' MID without express permission from them to do so. This is a common practice in the industry.

I think it is worth mentioning that the main reason for having the MID code is to guide the writer to use the optimum write strategy for that media. Each manufacturer's media is slightly different and the writer needs to be able to adjust the way it creates 'pits" on that particular disc. During initialization, the firmware looks for the MID code, recognizes the manufacturer, then begins test writing based on guidelines in a lookup table. Also, there are no 'laws" that limit the use of MID codes '“ anyone can use any code without gaining the 'rights", but it is generally regarded as unethical to use them without permission.

Best Regards,

Joseph M. Weisenbach
Engineering Manager
MAM-A Inc.

Does this mean that Taiyo Yuden has given MAM-E official permission to produce discs using the YUDEN000T02 MID code? We do not yet know, as we have not received an official statement from Taiyo Yuden. Feel free to discuss this topic in our Media Forum .

Source: CDFreaks.com