Page 1 of Stronger Region Coding ?

The following story has appeared on the www.r2.dvd.org website -

"According to at least one trade report the DVD Content Control Association is stepping up efforts to plug the holes in CSS, the protection system that tries to stop digital copies of DVD`s being made. The major problem though is not technological but economic. No matter what system they come up with (and it would be easy if they started from scratch) they can not increase the cost of players by any great extent, nor can they render current players obsolete. However there is one interesting and perhaps disturbing aspect to the story. According to the DVD content control organisation, there are some moves afoot to strengthen (by a quantum leap) the regional coding of disks. According to this story the regional coding would be placed within the CSS system making all current "chipped" players obsolete and perhaps making the chipping of players virtually impossible."

What does anyone think of this - I haven`t heard of this on any other websites !

It wouldnt surprise me. Also I think that RCE has failed somewhat, especially when only Warner and Columbia are the only studios to take it up so far. I think they realise that another system is needed in the long term so that can extract even more money out of us poor souls.

I don`t see how one can "make current chipped players obsolete" without also making non-chipped players of the same model obsolete as well.

Say you have:

A) Samsung 709 (US Region 1 model)
B) Samsung 709 (European Region 2 model)
C) Samsung 709 (hacked or chipped European multi-region model)


It`s simply not possible to produce a disc which will decode on A but not C, still less B but not C.

In fact, the only way of doing it would be scrapping the existing DVD format and starting from scratch! That would really be cutting off their noses to spite their faces.


Mike