What possible use is there for region coding?

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Seriously, wouldn't it make more sense, raise sales, and cut down on bootlegging to get rid of region coding on DVDs? It would make importing easier since you wouldn't have to import a whole new DVD player to go along with it.

Or is that *why* they do it, so that you have to take unnecessary steps like that?

 

[Argy]

I believe its purpose is to discourage pirating, but I don't see that stopping anyone. Rather, it's a frustration for those of us who want to purchase our imports legally.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

How would it discourage pirating? If someone can't obtain it legally, they're more likely to try to get it *il*legally.

 

[Kadabra]

The main reasons for region coding on DVDs are to prevent the theatrical release of a title in one region being jeopardized by imports of DVDs from other regions, and to protect the interests of foreign distributors.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

But many a time a title won't be distributed in a region to begin with, so how could it protect anyone's interests?

 

[Kadabra]

Taking some Japanese film as an example, you could say that the company which owns distribution rights to it in Japan isn't interested in dealing with foreign distribution ... for whatever complicated business/legal reasons. It might be easier and more profitable for them to sell the license to a distributor abroad instead. How do you know that it will not eventually be distributed in said region for certain?

There might be other reasons that I'm unaware of, but as I have said, the main (or at least the original) reason was to protect theatrical releases abroad. What's interesting is that this incompatibility existed naturally before the invention of digital media. Due to different frequencies in US and Europe (NTSC 60Hz vs PAL 50Hz), videos were not compatible -- which helped Hollywood make quite a lot of extra cash. DVDs are not affected by this problem, so they had to intentionally recreate it. Hehehe... :-D

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Well, then why not cross that hurdle when they come to it? It would come up a lot less often than it would.

 

[Vagabond Aeon]

And it's not just movies, either...

For all the good Nintendo brought us, they were the ones who started the trend of regional lockouts in video game systems (except the Game Boy... I always wondered why the Game Boy never had regional locks on it?). And for the same reasons as regional lockouts on movies...

 

[Archaic]

Thankfully for us Australians, region coding in DVD players was ruled to be illegal by the ACCC, and stores are required to sell all DVD players pre-set to region 0 (ie. Region free).

It'd be interesting if someone would take, say, Sony, to the ACCC, for those same lockouts on the PS2. Especially after they went after mod-chips so heavily.

EDIT: Well, what do you know, someone already has!