I did the firmware update a few days after I built this system and the burners were working fine for months.
I replaced both burners with Optiarc AD 7200S {Sony - NEC joint venture} burners and I have no problems at all. I haven't done the firmware upgrade yet, but they work like a charm on any disc I throw at them.
I wonder if there is something on The Tudors dvd that might have caused this. Sony got caught putting rootkits on their cds and dvds a few times over the last couple of years. So I wonder if something similar happened here.