[LINK] Region Locked DVD Drives Illegal?
Kim Holburn
kim at holburn.net
Tue Aug 22 22:06:56 AEST 2006
You find rpc-1 firmware for your laptop drive and reflash it so it's
region free. It's not hard to do, although you usually have to wait
a bit until the firmware is available.
Alternatively, you get an external DVD drive that is region free or
for which the region-free firmware is available.
Or, if you run windows there are programs that can let your spc-2
drive read and write region free.
Or you sue the manufacturer for advertising a product that doesn't work?
On 2006 Aug 22, at 9:33 PM, Adam Todd wrote:
> At 06:35 PM 22/08/2006, George Bray wrote:
>> Thanks everyone.
>>
>> The ACCC came back to me and confirmed those views. It's only a
>> legal
>> issue if the unit is marketed in AUS for a specific purpose and does
>> not perform as advertised.
>>
>> I guess I'll be spending a few CPU cycles to rip my foreign DVDs. Or
>> is that illegal here now thanks to the FTA?
>
> Wouldn't the mere act of ripping the DVD be illegal in Australia
> anyway? Isn't that the reason the 'Copyright' holders are suing
> everyone?
>
>> It used to be you could re-burn the ROM in the drive to accept any
>> region, but alas that doesn't look possible now.
>
> yes I had to set my laptop to a region the other day. You know
> what the problem with this stupidity is?
>
> Well I was in Aus pre May, France in May, Australia in June, so
> that's Three changes. Then I'll be in the USA later this year for
> a bit, that's another change, then I'll be in the UK, so I'll have
> to change it again.
>
> Then I can toss the DVD+RW drive in my laptop and buy a new one and
> do it all over again. Sad isn't it. Portable technology that
> isn't portable.
>
> Maybe I'll not buy or play any DVD's whilst I'm out and about, just
> seek out the Independent movie makers and enjoy those instead!
>
>> As usual, the media industry's efforts to protect themselves force
>> their customers to investigate new ways to acquire the content. My
>> contempt for them is inversely proportional to their trust in me.
>
> As usual the industry prevents customers having the benefit of
> hardware that plays materials in all places they might travel to.
>
>
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--
Kim Holburn
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