Blockbuster Wants Region Coding To End.

DEC. 5 | Blockbuster Video last week called on the studios to eliminate
region codes on DVDs in order to combat piracy.

Keynoting the Perspectives in European Video conference in Marseilles,
France, Blockbuster Inc. president and COO Nigel Travis said, "The extra
time and windows created by regional coding is an opportunity that
pirates exploit."

Travis's comments represent the first time the giant retailer has spoken
out publicly on the controversial issue of regional coding. The system,
set up at the time DVD was launched, is meant to prevent discs released
in the U.S. from playing on decks sold in other territories, where
release dates often trail the U.S. by several months.

However, DVDs released in the U.S. frequently find their way overseas,
where they can be played on modified, or "chipped," players.

"Despite having lived in Dallas for nearly 5 1/2 years, I still have
strong connections with the U.K.," said Travis, a British ex-pat.
"People there tell me of the opportunity to buy discs straight from the
U.S."

Travis cited the recent case of Disney's Finding Nemo, which was
released in the U.S. Nov. 4 but will not officially reach the U.K. until
March 18, 2004.

"Pirates take advantage of this and can drive the proverbial cart and
horses through these holes in the release schedule, and the loss of
revenue hurts us all--studios, distribution and retailers," Travis said.

By agreement between the studios and hardware makers, all DVD players
are supposed to contain circuitry to recognize and respond to region
codes included on the discs. In many international territories, however,
players are widely sold with the circuitry disabled or never included in
the first place.

"Some of the DVD product for release in the U.S. is being directly
sourced by placing orders on e-commerce sites," Travis said. "As a
result, while the studios strictly comply with the regional coding, the
DVD hardware manufacturers and retailers often don't, and at least in
Latin America, Europe and Asia, they are selling multi-region hardware
units."

http://www.videobusiness.com/article...9&catType=NEWS

Scot Gardner

In article <20031206175156.776$>, Scot Gardner
<> wrote:

> DEC. 5 | Blockbuster Video last week called on the studios to eliminate
> region codes on DVDs in order to combat piracy.
>
Ah... BB is opening stores in other regions, and wants as good a
selection as the pirates

(VCD's are on the street the day a film hits theaters, so good luck)

--
Chris Mack "Refugee, total ****. That's how I've always seen us.
'Invid Fan' Not a help, you'll admit, to agreement between us."
-'Deal/No Deal', CHESS

Invid Fan

"Scot Gardner" <> wrote ...
> DEC. 5 | Blockbuster Video last week called on the studios to eliminate
> region codes on DVDs in order to combat piracy.
>
<snip>
>
> However, DVDs released in the U.S. frequently find their way overseas,
> where they can be played on modified, or "chipped," players.

Good News: Blockbuster wants region coding to end.

Bad News: Blockbuster apparently does not know the difference
between a pirate and a parallel importer.

-Jay

Jay G

On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:29:54 -0600, "Jay G" <> wrote:

>Good News: Blockbuster wants region coding to end.
>
>Bad News: Blockbuster apparently does not know the difference
>between a pirate and a parallel importer.

Region coding is mainly to stop people outside of US/Canada to watch
new released DVDs before they hit their shores. However, it never
worked as advertised. People in Thailand and Malaysia are constantly
watching pirated R1 DVD before the official released date.

In fact, you can only buy official R3 or whatever releases months
after the pirated R1 DVDs are released there. So the studios are
actually losing money in those region.

For once, BB is right. If the studios are smart, they would abandone
region coding right now.

goldfgn@telus.net

>>Bad News: Blockbuster apparently does not know the difference
>>between a pirate and a parallel importer.
>
>Region coding is mainly to stop people outside of US/Canada to watch
>new released DVDs before they hit their shores. However, it never
>worked as advertised. People in Thailand and Malaysia are constantly
>watching pirated R1 DVD before the official released date.
>
>In fact, you can only buy official R3 or whatever releases months
>after the pirated R1 DVDs are released there. So the studios are
>actually losing money in those region.
>
>For once, BB is right. If the studios are smart, they would abandone
>region coding right now.

Would more simultaneous worldwide theatrical releases be difficult? If they do
this then they could release the DVDs at the same time everywhere. But those
pesky Southeast Asian pirates put their wares out on the street before a movie
is even released. Tricky situation.

Remove "moc" to reply.

When toy shopping, look for the Joe Mantegna Seal Of Safety. It's your only
guarantee that the toy has been deemed safe by Joe Mantegna.

Sydney Assbasket

On 07 Dec 2003 20:20:27 GMT, oc (Sydney Assbasket )
wrote:

>Would more simultaneous worldwide theatrical releases be difficult? If they do
>this then they could release the DVDs at the same time everywhere. But those
>pesky Southeast Asian pirates put their wares out on the street before a movie
>is even released. Tricky situation.

Simultaneous worldwide releases are only possible for about 3 films a
year like the Matrix or LOTR. Most smaller budget films don't have
the marketing budget to do it. Hollywood is losing money by reginal
coding DVDs in Asia and only Hollywood doesn't know it.

goldfgn@telus.net

oc (Sydney Assbasket ) wrote:

>>>Bad News: Blockbuster apparently does not know the difference
>>>between a pirate and a parallel importer.
>>
>>Region coding is mainly to stop people outside of US/Canada to watch
>>new released DVDs before they hit their shores. However, it never
>>worked as advertised. People in Thailand and Malaysia are constantly
>>watching pirated R1 DVD before the official released date.
>>
>>In fact, you can only buy official R3 or whatever releases months
>>after the pirated R1 DVDs are released there. So the studios are
>>actually losing money in those region.
>>
>>For once, BB is right. If the studios are smart, they would abandone
>>region coding right now.
>
>Would more simultaneous worldwide theatrical releases be difficult? If they do
>this then they could release the DVDs at the same time everywhere. But those
>pesky Southeast Asian pirates put their wares out on the street before a movie
>is even released. Tricky situation.
>
>
The problem is that the movie studios do not like making allot of
prints. Down where I live we usually get the releases months after
the US because they pass off the old prints from the northern
hemisphere for new releases. This way they don't have such a high
distribution cost. Pity. These guys are still try to protect their
monopoly and distribution methods by going to govements and getting
parallel imports by commercial importer banned.

John

in article , at
wrote on 12/6/03 9:46 PM:

> On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:29:54 -0600, "Jay G" <> wrote:
>
>> Good News: Blockbuster wants region coding to end.
>>
>> Bad News: Blockbuster apparently does not know the difference
>> between a pirate and a parallel importer.
>
> Region coding is mainly to stop people outside of US/Canada to watch
> new released DVDs before they hit their shores. However, it never
> worked as advertised. People in Thailand and Malaysia are constantly
> watching pirated R1 DVD before the official released date.
>
> In fact, you can only buy official R3 or whatever releases months
> after the pirated R1 DVDs are released there. So the studios are
> actually losing money in those region.
>
> For once, BB is right.

I never thought I would ever hear that last statement, let alone agree with
it. Yet, there it is!

> If the studios are smart, they would abandone
> region coding right now.

Not necessarily. While piracy may be rampant oversees, you have to compare
either the lost ticket sales or the cost of delaying releases in the
US/Canada to the cost of piracy.

Then, if the math works out that it makes sense to not use region coding
solely for this purpose then it probably would make sense to still use
region coding, but not to delay releases.

Don't forget that another reason for region coding is so that they can split
distribution rights. This has advantages.

MR_ED_of_Course

On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:29:54 -0600, "Jay G" <> wrote, in
part:

>Bad News: Blockbuster apparently does not know the difference
>between a pirate and a parallel importer.

Isn't all importation of DVDs into areas outside of their official
coded region illegal, because it violates the copyright licensing of
those discs, and the licensing arrangements for the patents of the DVD
technology?

John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html

John Savard

John Savard wrote on [Tue, 09 Dec 2003 13:05:13 GMT]:
> On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:29:54 -0600, "Jay G" <> wrote, in
> part:
>
>>Bad News: Blockbuster apparently does not know the difference
>>between a pirate and a parallel importer.
>
> Isn't all importation of DVDs into areas outside of their official
> coded region illegal, because it violates the copyright licensing of
> those discs, and the licensing arrangements for the patents of the DVD
> technology?

No. That would mean that if I moved from say, Australia, to the USA, and
brought all my DVDs with me I could be up for many counts of piracy or
whatever.

Justin