Is the dvd industry nuts? To non-US inmates...

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Sorry... venting off!
Finally, after some waiting, I decided that maybe dvd format is mature enough and I can join... no way! Not this season. Maybe, never.
The smart fellas who invented the region coding really deserve the worst ever marketing award. OK, the hardware is 75% multiregional already, and 25% is hackable (but who would buy it if it needs hacking?). This isn't a problem.
But what about software? I live in a R5 country (Russia) with a tiny dvd market where half of legit software is R1, the rest R2, R5. For those who are not 100% satisfied with current shoot-em-al-harrison-ford-meets-van-damme crop - the only source is buying online from US suppliers. But woops! they don't ship overseas, R1 is only for R1 citizens. I may bite the argument about protecting new software, but why the heck they want to censor movies from 1940s?
I checked this with parents who live in R2 country. Same situation. How do they get around? Order R1 disks to a US address, then pick it up on a routine business trip. Many Euro film classics are still not released in R2. And anyway, Euro retail prices are nuts.
I hope that one day the industry will accept the fact and announce R1, deleting any restrictions as the only region simply because of it's size.
In the meantime, local market already said goodbye to DVD standard in favor of low-grade MP4. One more year without software, without buyers - and the few retailers still selling dvd will discontinue them. No software - no rental business. My money will go elsewhere.
The media will fold down to an antques category like vinyl audio. Cool, expensive, hard to find - why bother? Why should I invest in a dying format?

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Topic - Is the dvd industry nuts? To non-US inmates... - klaus 12:30:39 11/23/02 (8)

Have you considered what goes on in your country? - Larry S 18:01:35 11/29/02 (1)

I did not, I just live here - klaus 01:31:39 12/01/02 (0)

Re: Is the dvd industry nuts? To non-US inmates... - tazdevl 15:47:35 11/23/02 (0)

Re: Is the dvd industry nuts? To non-US inmates... - Mick Jones 15:27:39 11/23/02 (0)

The "opposite" bitch. - Joe Murphy Jr 15:21:48 11/23/02 (3)

Before it's gone to whiners woad... - klaus 16:16:41 11/23/02 (2)

I was trying to stick to HT/video. - Joe Murphy Jr 21:56:28 11/23/02 (0)

Agree too - cfraser 17:41:01 11/23/02 (0)

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