In reply to:
I've heard this before and had until now dismissed it as urban legend. Why is it that scratching the upper surface of a cd can cause more problems than scratching the actual data side? Is it also the same for DVDs?
There's really just a layer of ink between the top and the data... the bottom side has a thick (acrylic polycarbonate?) layer. If you tip a CD to the light and look through the bottom towards an edge, you can see a lot of material below the data layer and very little from the top.
Neither place is preferable for a scratch... through the bottom can scatter laser light trying to read the pits, from the top can actually damage the data layer.
Bren R.
