[plug] Open source DVD playback

[Peter Wright]

On Tue, Oct 09, 2001 at 08:08:10PM +0800, alan howard wrote:
> but i'm sure if you paid the right fees you to could make a dvd player,
> whether it be for pc or home entertainment system.

But you would _not_ be allowed to make a region-free DVD player. Even if
you wanted to.

Officially, that is... I'm sure everyone's aware that some (all?) DVD
players can be very quickly and easily "modified" when purchasing to play
DVDs from any region. Though from what I understand this is at the expense
of voiding your warranty.

> rgds
> alan howard

For those (if any) who haven't quite got it yet - imagine the MPAA's
second-worst nightmare. Everyone in the world who uses DVD players uses a
region-free DVD, meaning they can play a DVD from any region. So if a
studio decides to release a new movie to theatres in the US, then to DVD in
region 1 (the US), THEN to Europe/Oceania/Asia - and shock horror, the
attendance at theatres is much much lower than expected (judging by US
audiences). Because everyone ordered the DVD from the States and watched it
at home, dramatically reducing the studio's income.

Gee, if stuff like that happened, studios might have to take the drastic
step of releasing all movies worldwide at the same time by default... or
not releasing any DVD versions until the movie has played out to all
worldwide audiences in cinemas.

What a horrifying thought, eh? :)

Pete.
-- 
http://akira.apana.org.au/~pete/

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