I was afraid for a second that it was a working copy. I've heard that the data is actually stored near the top layer.

Nah - Garr bought a pack of these disks and about half of them were non-working. They've been sitting on his desk taunting him for ages, so I figured this was a good a use for them as any.

but the pits and lands that encode it are stamped and metalized on the label side

Actually, you're thinking of CDs. The data layer of a DVD is actually sandwiched pretty much halfway between two pieces of plastic. The label is stamped on the outside label side. (If you have a DVD with a label that is partly transparent, you can actually just see the reflection off the label's bottom side at the edge. It might seem like blurred edges. Compare that to how CD labels look and you can tell it's different, and that's because of the extra plastic.) </worsethanyou>

wonderful idea! I've been collecting cds for a while now, I plan on using them for my CD Shooter gun I am working on ^_^

I doubt it... I could do cases tho. I could try etching on the label side, tho.