Latest Playstation 3 Firmware Breaks Blu-ray?

A relatively minor PS3 update has sparked a considerable furor online regarding the possible 'bricking' of the console's Blu-ray drive, where games refuse to play and movies freeze after approximately 10 minutes play.  The firmware version in question is 3.01, an optional update released on the 15th September, which was listed as improving system stability, specifically software related ones. 

It's on the US Playstation blog where the majority of the complaints have been raised, with users suggesting their issues started after updating to the latest firmware.  It's interesting to note that when the machine is stated in the posts, it seems to be the older models experience problems.  Sony have responded by informing Eurogamer that a firmware update cannot break the blu-ray player, therefore it's a hardware issue and to fix any faults, a chargeable repair will be needed if your PS3 is out of warranty.

So, do any of our readers experienced problems after updating to 3.01?  My 80GB PS3 is still at 3.00 and I have been having no problems with games, DVDs or Blu-ray, so will not be hurriedly updating it!  Any thoughts on whether the firmware could have done this, or is it an unfortunate coincidence?  Whichever it is, by the amount of people out there who do have these mysterious faults, we don't expect the noise to die down just yet.