Changing DVD region code?

[MacLuv]

Is there any way to have my DVD player use ALL region access? Being an American in New Zealand I already have an extensive collection of Zone 1 DVDs but now I'm collecting Zone 4... most players on the market ship with all-zone readers... why can't I have this in my navi...?

It's just southpark gay...

 

[MacLuv]

BTW & FYI...

In case anybody in here gets "upitty" about the subject matter I've posted, I want to point out that region encoding DVDs is NOT a law of any kind. It was just a way for the movie industry to control cash flow across the board... this is why here, in New Zealand, we get a lot of the Hollywood leftovers and never even know about half of the movies coming out of the industry.

DVD Region encoding is actually a licensing agreement between the DVD manufacturer and the CSS licensing association. Since all DVDs have to be CSS compliant to play the DVDs, they have to apply a region lock to DVD player. This doesn't mean you don't have the right to take that lock off--you didn't sign any license agreement when they sold you the DVD, so the deal is between the manufacturer and the CSS... it's got nothing to do with us.
So people like me, who have already purchased thousands of dollars worth of DVDs in one region, can't play them in another region and that's just dumb.

I've already found the information I'm looking for so don't post any links or any other material becuase I don't want the post to become deleted... I rather spark interest in the fact that DVD region encoding is just WRONG...

(and if people start to tell me about how the studios need to make a few bucks I say this... gimmie a break!)

 

[MacLuv]

As a lot of people have asked about what I've found regarding DVD region encoding, I'll share the information here.

Once again... unlocking your DVD region code so that it plays all regions is NOT ILLEGAL... there are no laws against changing your DVD firmware or unlocking your region code...

Also, I'm posting this becuase there are a lot of people out there like me that have moved to different countries and would like to enjoy the DVDs they purchase legally in other countries. If you don't travel or buy special edition DVDs (such as Anime or UK titles that are only avaiable in certain region codes) then don't worry about all this stuff. One of the reasons we have region codes is becuase not enough people bitch about it... but moving along...

Basically it's like this... the DVD player in your drive is either locked or region-free. The code for locked DVD players is RFC-2, and for Region-Free it is RFC-1. On top of the hardware lock, all software DVD players have a region lock as well--I believe that all players allow you to change your region 5 times. This means that on the 5th time you can no longer switch regions. ABSURD!!

Fixing this is a two step process, and will not work on some DVD players. The first step is to update the firmware on the DVD player so that it becomes RFC-1. Not all DVD players can be changed, although people are working on firmware updates all the time. Do a search on the internet to find your DVD and which firmware version it is using.

RFC firmware updates can be found easily on the web. I won't post links here, simply becuase people that don't need these updates don't have to bother with them... and I don't want to generate "rubberneck traffic... so look for them yourself if you need them. Don't ask the manufacturer of your DVD player--they have that license agreement thing so they won't get involved. The people that are writing the firmware updates are the same people that write the firmware in the first place, so they seem to know what they are doing.

I have an eMac with a Pioneer DVD, and at this time the model I have is NOT upgradable to RFC-1. Hopefully someday there will be a firmware update I can use.

If you have an RFC-1 player or can upgrade, the second step is to get software that allows you to reset the 5 change limits on your Mac. At this time the only software for OSX is "Region X", which works with RFC-1 players to reset the switch code.

The only further advice is to make sure you follow the instructions to update your DVD firmware, otherwise you could damage the unit entirely. You must also accept that this fix is done at your own risk. But if you're able to find an update that works with your DVD by all means do so, because it is your right to watch the movies you've paid for on your own DVD player.

 

[MacLuv]

Oh yeah, and on a side note... one of the solutions I've thought about is a consumer code, a serial number that allows the user to unlock his or her DVD on a different region player. In other words, if you buy the DVD in another country and would like to watch it, you shouldn't be made to feel criminal by being locked out of your own system. I wouldn't mind plugging in some sort of "region subscription" code if I had to to unlock the DVD player...