Is there a rational reason for region locking?

[Gingerbread Demon]

Aside from greed?

Hey why do we have region locking on things like hulu, netflix, shows on amazon and disks? And other media?

Why would it be a problem to have everything if it's available available everywhere at the same time?

Really pees me off. I know I can get a VPN to avoid this but why should I have to?

 

[think]

the party of the first part has stated for the record that there is to be no -insert object here- sold to anyone from the party of the second part due to the experimental effects of gamma rays and true scientific meaning of thoughts as they become experienced in the effort to think.

I get that problem with certain songs that accidentally end up on one of my hand held video grabs I make.. where it becomes not possible to see said video in these certain countries ...

this is Earth we are humans --- the explanation should not go any further.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

the party of the first part has stated for the record that there is to be no -insert object here- sold to anyone from the party of the second part due to the experimental effects of gamma rays and true scientific meaning of thoughts as they become experienced in the effort to think.

I get that problem with certain songs that accidentally end up on one of my hand held video grabs I make.. where it becomes not possible to see said video in these certain countries ...

this is Earth we are humans --- the explanation should not go any further.

Yes but if you are one of those lowly humans who sell their wares online wouldn't you want to have as wide a market as possible and not restrict that market to certain areas only?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

You mean, is there a technical reason why showing said videos is technically infeasible in the regions (in contrast to all the other videos available there)? Of course there isn't.

 

[eyeresist]

I think the idea behind region locking is to ensure income for entities who license product for local distribution. It's protectionism, really. In theory it's supposed to be protecting legitimate jobs and incomes in your region, but in practice it prevents access to things that haven't been locally licensed, and it permits price gouging of captive markets (not such an issue in the US, but a problem in a small remote place like Australia, or even Canada).

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Unless the economic reason is considered rational, then no. It's just about milking every territory for what it's worth, at the leisure of the company doing the milking.

 

[MacLeod]

Well reasons for region coding/locking could be.

Distibrution rights, Company A might have the rights in Region B and Company B might have the rights in Region A.

Different coding i.e PAL vs NTSC bu with a region free DVD player I had no problem playing NTSC DVD's on my PAL TV.

Films have to have a rating in order to be released in some countries so a different cut has to be used so the studio might decide to region lock it.

Language tracks.

Release schedule go back a decade or so and there could be months before a cilm came out in Region B after it had been out in Region A. DVD release were staggered accordingly


And of course price gouging.

 

[HIjol]

I think the idea behind region locking is to ensure income for entities who license product for local distribution. It's protectionism, really. In theory it's supposed to be protecting legitimate jobs and incomes in your region, but in practice it prevents access to things that haven't been locally licensed, and it permits price gouging of captive markets (not such an issue in the US, but a problem in a small remote place like Australia, or even Canada).

I have not heard much about the Hinterlands of Australia or Canadia (I thought Australia was an extinct genus of Hominids) but my understanding is that if you move to or go to a different Region, you have to by their media, because your Media will not work. Like Coco Pops said: Greed!

 

[HIjol]

Attention Australians and Candadians: the previous Post was not written by me. It was written by an Evil Mirror lojIH who thiefed my account to spread discord and ill-intention (and peanut butter all over my keyboard)! But, I have killed him!

In no way does the previous post reflect my love and respect for Australian and Canadian Citizens at home and abroad. (Sorry about the Stanley Cup, Canada...You'll get 'em next year! )

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Unless the economic reason is considered rational, then no. It's just about milking every territory for what it's worth, at the leisure of the company doing the milking.

But wouldn't they make a ton more money selling everything in every region at once?

 

[HIjol]

Machines and players are also coded, so there would have to be a change for each manufacturer. ...and licensing agreements with artists and musicians and Key Grips and Lock Grips and Firm Grips would, likewise, need to change...a complicated scene that would drain the dough from the the Major Dough Moughs. (See what I did there?)

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Machines and players are also coded, so there would have to be a change for each manufacturer. ...and licensing agreements with artists and musicians and Key Grips and Lock Grips and Firm Grips would, likewise, need to change...a complicated scene that would drain the dough from the the Major Dough Moughs. (See what I did there?)

Yep

 

[MacLeod]

Machines and players are also coded, so there would have to be a change for each manufacturer. ...and licensing agreements with artists and musicians and Key Grips and Lock Grips and Firm Grips would, likewise, need to change...a complicated scene that would drain the dough from the the Major Dough Moughs. (See what I did there?)

A change for the manufacturers is a week argument. I doubt very much that it cost more to make a player for Region A than Region B. In fact wouldn't it be cheaper to be region free because you could use exactly the same chips/coding. i.e no extra expense for writting different code?

But if they can sell a BR in the US for say $15 do they charge the same eqivelant price in other countries (which would for example be around £10 in the UK) or do they just change for example the $ for £?

 

[Starkers]

It used to make sense back in the days when a film might be released on region 1 DVD at the same time it finally hit the UK cinemas, these days not so much...

 

[JoeZhang]

yes it is for economic reasons, which is why you are going to see a lot of resistance to digital single market in the EU.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

yes it is for economic reasons, which is why you are going to see a lot of resistance to digital single market in the EU.

Well that's pretty backward thinking then isn't it?

If I were a content publisher I'd want my wares out in as many markets as possible to maximize profits, and not restrict myself.

 

[Pingfah]

But wouldn't they make a ton more money selling everything in every region at once?

That's probably looking at the industry too simply. Some companies have no business presence in some parts of the world, so they'll sell distribution rights to companies that do. That might entail having multiple deals in place to ensure your movie gets global distribution.

Those companies need to have their revenue streams protected as best as possible, or else the movie doesn't get distributed at all.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

But wouldn't they make a ton more money selling everything in every region at once?

That's probably looking at the industry too simply. Some companies have no business presence in some parts of the world, so they'll sell distribution rights to companies that do. That might entail having multiple deals in place to ensure your movie gets global distribution.

Those companies need to have their revenue streams protected as best as possible, or else the movie doesn't get distributed at all.

Ah... OK I get that. But this is a new age old business models need to change.

 

[Pingfah]

Well they will as distribution goes 100% digital over time. Netflix already wants to become global, but is encountering resistance from their content suppliers.

But you must remember that Netflix doesn't exist in every country, and to expect every company to be global and capable of doing business globally is unrealistic. It's a big world, but it isn't one world. Each country is always going to have businesses that operate there, but not elsewhere, that isn't going to change.

 

[eyeresist]

Well they will as distribution goes 100% digital over time.

Unfortunately, digital distribution does not mean an end to region locking. Australia pays more for video game downloads, and local Netflix, coming soon, will charge more too. There has been a government inquiry into this stuff recently, with corporations including Google and Apple attending, but I suspect its verdict will be toothless...