From: Ron Heiby (heiby_at_falkor.chi.il.us)
Date: Sun Dec 20 1998 - 22:16:53 EST
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At 01:24 AM 12/20/98 -0500, Bill Morrow wrote, in response to my comparison
with gasoline and motor oil standards:
>Bad parallel..!
How so?
Studios own movies. Consumer Electronics companies produce devices that allow
consumers to use those movies. Oil companies own oil. Auto companies produce
devices that allow consumers to use that oil.
Studios work with C.E. companies on standards for interoperability between
movies and devices. Oil and Auto companies work together on standards for
interoperability between oil and vehicles.
How is it OK for oil companies and auto companies to get together to decide on
the standards for gasoline, but it is not OK for movie companies and C.E.
companies to get together to decide on standards for movie distribution media?
If someone thinks that the region code stuff is illegal, they should provide
some reference to the law(s) being violated. If someone think that it is
wrong, and not just inconvenient for those of us who would like to import DVDs
>from some other region, then they should explain exactly how it is wrong /
wicked / evil / immoral / etc.
If the region code crap is inconvenient enough that people refuse to buy DVDs
because of it, then the studios will come to their senses and stop using that
mechanism on the movies they produce. If people buy the movies anyway, then it
must not be all that inconvenient to enough of the movie purchasing public,
and they will continue to use it. So, the obvious solution is to stop buying
region coded DVDs, and try to convince others that the inconvenience of not
being able to import a movie from somewhere else over-weighs the benefits of
the DVD format.
BTW, I think that DIVX is a *FAR* worse abomination than region codes. If we
are going to spend cycles fighting against stupid and inconvenient schemes by
movie studios to maximize their profit, then we should be spending them
fighting DIVX.
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-- Ron.
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