Quote:
Originally Posted by mindovermatter
from what I know, they put 'regions' on DVDs to help stop pirating (I don't think it's worked though). Basically, a DVD you buy in Europe won't work on a DVD player that you bought in the US, won't work on a DVD player your bought in Japan, etc and vice-versa.
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Region protection has absolutely nothing to do with piracy. It's about price discrimination, i.e. being able to charge different prices in different markets without people in more expensive regions being able to import discs from abroad. Also it allows release dates of discs to be staggered, such that some regions will see the disc a few days/weeks/months before others. Finally, it allows sub-licensing: The producer can have different distributors selling the disc in different regions. Region protection gives these distributors a guaranteed market.
This is all nice in theory, but given that multi-region DVD players have been around for awhile, it's nothing more than a hassle now.