With all due respect, I think that EVERYBODY has missed the point on
this thread, and this was not helped by the poorly written article.
This is NOT about COPY PROTECTION - it is about MARKET PROTECTION.

The only codes he would have to defeat on a DVD in order to watch a
movie are the regional coding codes 1 through 6. I would have thought
that most people on this were aware of these. The motion picture
industry was extremely nervous about the introduction of DVDs. Not only
because of potential piracy, but because it meant that high quality
digital versions of their products could turn up in markets before they
had intended.

Prints of motion pictures are extremely expensive - particularly with
most being 70mm or better these days - so the distribution companies
will only print a certain number of copies, then stagger the launch
dates throughout the world. When I was a kid, it used to be over a year
before we saw a movie at the theatres here in Australia that had been
launched in the USA - even Australian movies! Now it's only a matter of
months before we see a movie here and we also get the odd world
premier! :-)

However even with it only being a couple of months, I can still order
DVDs from the USA via the internet, charged to my Credit Card and
delivered to my door in under a week. I can watch a movie in high
quality on my home theatre - long before it is launched on the screens
here in Australia. THIS is what the motion picture industry was dead
afraid of.

And what laws have I broken? I own those movies. I have paid for them
in full. I also have a machine that just happens to play them. The
machine is CLEARLY labeled that it will only play Region 4 discs. The
machine has NEVER been modified, yet it plays Region 1 (North America),
Region 2, Region 3, Region 4 and Region 6 discs. I can only assume that
it plays Region 5 discs - have not tried yet.

Street knowledge is that virtually all makes of DVD players sold in
Australia will play all region discs - with the explicit exception of
SONY. Also SONY PlayStation 2 machines will only play Region 4 discs -
but these can all be "chipped" (a major source of Microchip's income,
I'm sure!) and to my knowledge, most PS 2s get chipped (and not just
for DVDs - but that's a whole other argument).

As I read the article, his software allows DVD players (drives)
presumably bought in Norway to play discs other than those purchased in
Norway. If he bought these discs in any other country than Norway, then
his disks would be blocked - either by the player software or more
likely - by the firmware in the drive.

What has he done wrong? You could take it one step further than my
example. Let's assume that they are movies purchased legally in say the
United States. Could he not also legally purchase an American sold DVD
Player or DVD drive for his computer? Then transport drive and player
back to Norway. He now has a player that he has legally purchased and
movies that he has legally purchased. He owns the right to watch those
movies as often as he likes. Just because he is not physically located
in the United States, does not mean he has forfeited the right to view
his own property. And it is HIS property. He owns that particular copy
of that particular movie.

What the movie houses are trying to do is say that I can not purchase a
novel in Sydney airport and legally take it with me to the United
Kingdom for example.

And that's all I have to say about that! :-)

Regards,

Sean

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