Amazon “On Demand” CDRs?

Yes, I remember that. Everything was "anchored" to that piece of inner cardboard, instead of today where everything I buy from Amazon (whether that be CDs, kitchen timers, ant poison, gloves, sheets, clothes, you name it) is just thrown inside a box bouncing all over the place into each other with nothing other than worthless airbags inside (doing nothing).

 

I agree with you. But if I may clarify a thing or two. The fake CD you bought is not "made on demand": MOD; yes they do sell MODs but they are mostly listed as such. And they only make it when you place an order. This format is used for things in public domain, title(s) that have been previously released several times, etc. There's a small niche of people that request those titles. But it's just not enough to justify the expense of a pressed CD. Mods are CD-Rs, and this is what's really wrong with the disc you purchased it's also a CD-R. But they're hiding that information from us. The difference being the disc you purchased will only be produced as a CD-R and that's what's available in the warehouse when a merchant puts in a request for that title. A genuine pressed CD will never be offered. It's just economics. And mostly greed! Amazon and WaterTower partnered-up to deceive us. There are obvious ways of checking the disc to verify its authenticity. There is another way, if you order a CD from Amazon, before you tear off the cellophane have a look at the barcode. Just above the vertical black lines, in very small type, it will read "manufactured for amazon.com".
Most of the products you purchase from Amazon will say "sold through" or "shipped from Amazon", and they will also list a distributor. That information has nothing to do with a disc's authenticity. Check random items and you will see that Amazon stocks in their own warehouse several items, and some things they don't stock in their warehouses and it comes from a (distributor) third party. Sorry I tried attaching a photo of a barcode on a disc I purchased from Amazon. If you've made any purchases from Amazon check the barcode, especially if the record label is WaterTower.
Sorry, I believe I rambled on quite a bit and may have been unclear. If you have any questions please reply.