hmm... I remember hearing about a similar thing about CD degradation some time ago. I've heard that CDs can last anywhere from 5-20 years, if not more, but after reading this article, it seems that it may be a bit more towards the 5-10 year mark. I have about 100 CD-Rs which are silver on both sides (it looked cool at the time), but the slightest scratches on the obverse side of the discs sometimes messes them up or makes them unreadable, so with "CD rot", they may last even less that anticipated