Die Schlümpfe

The movie itself is what it should be, no problem with the Blu-ray or DVD media, and the kiddies love it so my own opinion of the movie itself is only slightly relevant.Instead I'm going to rip into Sony over the way they've implemented their version of Ultra Violet digital copy.I'm no stranger to Ultra Violet digital copy. My first experience with it was Universals version which was really cool, it gave me an Amazon download along with other cool stuff when I bought Cowboys & Aliens (Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy in Blu-ray Packaging). It was mostly smooth, some confusion since it was my first experience with it, but overall it was a positive experience.Not with Sony.First of all I found a code inside the Blu-Ray box that gave me Sony points, but every time I tried to create an account for the Ultra Violet copy (with Ultra Violet you have to create an account with each studio separately) I kept getting this error message:An Error Was EncounteredA system error occurred. Please try again later or contact customer support. (848ecb5f-912f-43d2-a2dc-b06bad3b837b)I figured hey, it's Christmas, the servers are overloaded due to an influx of Christmas time registration and no one is around to fix the issue, so give the admins a break.I tried registering several times a day for the next several days. Always the same error, even on Tuesday, I figured they should have it fixed by then.So then I have a hunch, I start up my Windows XP virtual machine and try to create an account. It works. Instead of saying "Go away Linux hippie!" They say (848ecb5f-912f-43d2-a2dc-b06bad3b837b).That's not cool.I get the account created. Turns out the code from INSIDE the box doesn't work for the movie. I do some searching online, I find more than one account of someone throwing it away, turns out it was on a sticker ON THE CELLOPHANE. The very sticker you could pull off in the store with no one noticing and the movie would still be sealed. My cellophane and sticker were thrown away in a bag full of snotty tissue days before. I could have figured it out and rescued it had I gotten a more descriptive error message than (848ecb5f-912f-43d2-a2dc-b06bad3b837b). After reading my account of what happened one of my friends said his wife threw their code away also. Really, who's idea was it to put the number OUTSIDE the packaging?I emailed Sony the full story I have detailed above, and they were kind enough to give me a new number. Using my virtual Windows XP machine I was able to register the movie. I hit download but it insisted I install Silverlight. I really don't like installing even more security hazards onto an already security hole riddled OS, especially when it's Sony asking me to do it who never did admit wrong doing in the whole root-kit fiasco, even though they're paying the fine for it.So, I have the Ultra Violet copy working on my emulated Windows machine. I decide to get fancy with it, I go back to a browser running on my native Linux OS, I log into the Ultra Violet site, I see my movies from other studios, click on them, they work. I click on the Smurfs, it sends me to the Sony website and it gives me another long horrendous string of numbers.I tried playing with browser user agent strings. Instead of working or giving me numbers it gives me a blank screen when I pretend to be IE, when I use Firefox but tell it I'm using the Windows version it lets me attempt to log in, but it still errors out.When they say you had better pay your taxes unto Lord Microsoft to watch a Sony movie they mean it.Universal has a far superior implementation of Ultra Violet, as it stands the Sony version only works if you're an MS sheeple, or possibly if you own a PS3.