Page 1 of So it seems DVD importing is illegal

A high Court judge has ruled it illegal to import DVD`s for personal use and games from other regions.

http://www.r2-dvd.org/article.jsp?sectionId=3&articleId=3395
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/23814.html

YM

I think they`d have trouble actually implementing this ruling as it impinges on my right to buy goods from whereever I want.

I suppose one of the big studios (maybe Columbia ?) could try to enforce a ban on US R1 stockists exporting their discs to Europe, but let`s face it they know damn well their profits would sink, big-time.

The judgement only specifically seems to relate to PS2 games, but I suppose it could be argued that applies to DVDs being watched on a hacked player too.

Could be an interesting one to keep an eye on this, especially if the DVD Forum put their weight behind it (they have been very keen to prevent Far Eastern manufacturers making multiregion players - eg Sampo Taiwan have now stopped shipping players that had easily hacked firmware, as owners of the Sharp DV740H and Reoc A5 would testify - they currently have to access a factory setting menu via an obscure text file burned onto a CD-R.

TYPICAL SONY.ALWAYS TRYIN TO FIND WAYS AROUND CERTAINS LAWS TO SCREW LITTLE PEOPLE OUT OF MORE MONEY.WE WILL HAVE TO SEE IN THE FUTURE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THIS.JUST HAVE TO BE CAREFUL THROUGH CUSTOMS NOW WHEN GOIN TO THE STATES.

People are misintepreting this ruling. Nothing has been ruled on the DVD front. It is only being suggested that DVD imports could be outlawed. I personally would not be worried at all at the moment. Any legal bid to accomplish this will be bogged down for a long time so don`t worry and keep buying those imported discs!

I`ll put money on it that if anything about making DVD importing illegal DOES appear in the courts then Sony will be at the forefront of it all.

Not that I dont trust the money hungry corporate b&*{?%8s or anything.

Besides which, it`s not the importing that`s "illegal" it`s the playing. As long as you don`t play `em, you`ll be OK :)

According to this ruling, playing = copying, i.e. there`s no legal distinction between playing an original DVD (or Playstation disc, or whatever) you own, and copying it onto a CD-R or DVD-R blank.

It`s only by special permission of the copyright holders that we`re allowed to actually watch the R2 discs that we`ve paid money for - isn`t that kind of them?

Mike

I think it would be a very bad move to make DVD importing illigal. If I wanted to get the latest region 1 title but couldn`t buy it from US or places like Play due to legal reasons I may have to look for illigal copies on DVDR from film & game pirates. (MODS - I`m not condoning piracy in any way).

I agree with you all, it would be bad if you didn`t have the choice anymore. I`ve just got my first region 1 disks this week, but have any of you read the fine print on the case, and also the warnings that come up at the start of the film. It made me look because of what has been said in the last few days on here. Reading the small print, it does appear that it is illegal to watch them in a region other than the one they were intended for. So the ruling would be right. To quote the fine print below:

Pearl Harbor
"This product is authorized for sale in Canada only. This DVD is for private home viewing only. It is not authorized for any other use."

Final Fantasy goes even further
"This DVD is authorised for sale only in the country where it was originally sold (ie only in the US or only in Canada, respectively). Unauthorised reproduction, DISTRIBUTION (my emphasis), or exhibition violates federal laws with severe consequences."

So it sounds to me like unauthorised distribution would be shipping it to a region it wasn`t intended for. Let`s hope they don`t start enforcing it :-)

Mark.

Seems like someone as added 2 and 2 together and literally come up with 5...I think the whole issue as been misinterpreted and doubt you will ever come across the day where it was illegal to import DVD`s for your own personal use, thats an infringement on your basic rights....