Preventing unauthorized use of optical discs

Apparatus having an optical-disc writer comprising:

• a disc-writing subsystem adapted to write extrinsic data to an optical disc, wherein the extrinsic data corresponds to at least one of (i) non-conventional embedded marks on the optical disc and (ii) alternative marks on the optical disc;
• and
• a write controller adapted to control operations of the disc-writing subsystem.

An optical disc comprising:

• conventional embedded marks corresponding to intrinsic data;
• and
• at least one of (i) non-conventional embedded marks corresponding to extrinsic data and (ii) alternative marks corresponding to extrinsic data, wherein the extrinsic data is used to control operations of an optical-disc player reading the optical disc.

An optical-disc-writer-implemented method for generating an optical disc having both intrinsic data and extrinsic data, the method comprising:

• (a) the optical-disc writer receiving the extrinsic data;
• and
• (b) the optical-disc writer generating, on the optical disc, at least one of (i) non-conventional embedded marks corresponding to the extrinsic data and (ii) alternative marks corresponding to the extrinsic data.

An optical-disc-player-implemented method comprising:

• (a) the optical-disc player reading extrinsic data from an optical disc, the extrinsic data corresponding to at least one of (i) non-conventional embedded marks on the optical disc and (ii) alternative marks on the optical disc;
• and
• (b) the optical-disc player controlling subsequent use of the optical disc based on the extrinsic data.