the VIEWERS have seen the copy of Samara's video

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 2002)

I'm surprised to see that no one has picked up the not-so-subtle meaning of the last scene of the movie where the copy is being made. Rachel's son asks her what would happen to the people who saw the copy, and she it's obvious what she thinks will happen. Then, the white noise on the screen in front of them immediately fills the full frame of the movie, getting louder, and then we are assaulted with a quick succession of flashed, one-frame images and then total blackness, is if the screen suddenly came alive in the theatre.
The implication is that we are the people who saw the copy. It was shown in its entirety to we, the viewers, when Rachel sat down to watch it. And, if you noticed, from that point on, we were treated to many single-frame flashes of the ring and other various symbolism from the film. If you recall, everyone who has seen the video, sees the ring in their mind's eye, before they die.
We are seeing the flashes of the ring and other symbolism, because we are slowly falling under Samara's spell. And the last scene implies that we are the next victims, while also leaving the producers open to a sequel.