Re: this is a first...

[Roger Burton West <roger@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Mar 02, 2004 at 04:55:42AM -0500, Donald Hosford wrote:
>I often wonder why they don't just do away with the entire "region code 
>system" entirely.

Because films are still distributed on celluloid, which is expensive
enough that they generally can't afford enough prints for a simultaneous
world-wide release. And no cinema chain wants to show a film that's
already available to buy, even if you do have to order from overseas to
get it.

As it stands, the region code is a very low bar. Maybe I just move in
the wrong circles, but nobody I know face-to-face has any problem with
playing discs from any region he feels like... many dedicated players
are region-freeable these days, and any Windows computer with a DVD
drive can be unlocked with the DVD Region-Free software even if the
drive itself can't be re-flashed.

Roger