Disc/laser rot

[Bo-rilla Grodd]

I have been trying to accumulate as much info on this subject as possible, so I decided to ask everyone here on their opinion.
Does anyone know about this subject? Im asking primarily about Laserdisc rot, and Cd rot on older video games. I just have to ask a couple of questions.

1. Is there anything to do to prevent this?
2. Does anyone have problems with this?
3. Is it a concern that has been blown out of proportion?
4. What systems have major concerns with this problem (i.e Dreamcast, Saturn, etc.)?
5. Does this happen to newer games? does it happen to Dvds, or Blu rays?

Any information on the subject would be great. I can only find info on the process and why it happens, but nothing on the questions Ive asked above. Thanks.

[AcidDragon]

I have games and music CDs as old as the 80s and while a few have the odd scratch here and there, they're mostly in great condition and I don't do anything special with them. The lasers on many PS1 and Dreamcast still work great.

[beastovjudgement]

My CD's, some dating back over 20 years, are still in perfect working order. On a few CD's and older (Playstation and early PS2) video games, there is a bit of the reading surface wearing away around the edges, but they all play normally. My original Playstation system's laser died in only a few years. I know several people who had the same thing happen on their PS2 systems. In every case, nothing out of the ordinary was done; it just suddenly stopped working. I have not heard of any widespread problems with degradation of actual discs, but the system laser lifespan can be pretty short on some of the earlier models. I think this flaw was fixed for later releases, though.