Ok, there are two types of DVD-R media: DVD-R (A) (authoring) and DVD-R (G) (general use).
Hollywood decided that it is a good idea to prevent easy bit-by-bit copies by introducing DVD-R (A) and (G). Almost every DVD burner that you can buy these days is limited to DVD-R (G), unless you have spent a lot more than average. DVD-R (A) media is also a lot more expensive and requires a slightly different laser wavelength. Thus, DVD-R (G) burner can't be `upgraded' to burn DVD-R (A) media, too.
In the end, it boils down to two things: authoring equipment is made so expensive that copying DVDs bit by bit (including copy protection) won't be affordable. DVD-R (G) is for generic use and doesn't include some copy protection stuff that home owners don't need (except for backing up their own DVDs
).
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