American Multi-Region Players

[Steve Crook]

name='johng']I agree it is only a few American discs which seem to be affected and if your

player allows you to change regions at will there is no problem. The PC is certainly an alternative however some PC DVD players only allow you to change the region code about 6 times before it is locked.

It's only the Micro$oft Media Player that imposes that strange restriction.

Even after it has apparently "locked" your DVD player onto a single region, you can still play DVDs from any other region with a decent media player like the VLC player as mentioned in lots of other places on this forum. It's free, it's much better than the Micro$oft player and using it helps break the Micro$oft monopoly



Steve

[TimR]

name='Dame Starry']Free DVD Unlocking Codes

Hmmmm....



The author of the site answers the question of legality by saying it is "above board", a nice way of saying it is not an unprincipled thing to do.



That's a reasonable comment - perhaps - but not quite a straight answer to a straight question. I somehow doubt that those who make it their job to corner the market on DVDs have failed to protect themselves legally.

[johng]

Thanks Steve for the info.



I often wonder nowadays as to the point in film distributors continuing to put on Region Codes and other restrictions on discs (which includes Macrovision or similar) when they must know full well that it can all easily be circumvented if a person so desires.



It therefore serves no real purpose other than to get people annoyed and there is nothing illegal about playing a Region 1 disc in region 2 if you can find a way of doing so, neither is it illegal to "hack" into a DVD player/recorder.

[Steve Crook]

name='johng']Thanks Steve for the info.



I often wonder nowadays as to the point in film distributors continuing to put on Region Codes and other restrictions on discs (which includes Macrovision or similar) when they must know full well that it can all easily be circumvented if a person so desires.



It therefore serves no real purpose other than to get people annoyed and there is nothing illegal about playing a Region 1 disc in region 2 if you can find a way of doing so, neither is it illegal to "hack" into a DVD player/recorder.

There are some who say that any region coding is illegal. It goes against the GATT and other international trade agreements. I have no problems about circumventing it or telling other people how to do so.



I'm in favour of proper copyright protection, that's fine. But region coding is just an artificial barrier and should be abandoned.



Steve