Region Coding Consumer protection or Consumer Manipulation
Introduction
With the advent of digital media has come a better ability for the owner of a copyright to protect the copyrighted work. Some mediums such as DVD have multiple levels of copy protection: 1. CSS scrambling for the video data on the disc, 2 . Macrovision for analog signal protection from the player, and 3. Region coding of a DVD disc and DVD player to prevent disc from being played in other parts of the world. Macrovison and CSS protect the media from illegal reproduction. Region coding prevents legal media from being used regions other than the intended region for the media. I believe the Region Coding without user bypass is the most controversial. Prohibiting a legally bought copy of a DVD from playing on a legal DVD player is protection for the company with no regard for the consumer. I will explore if Region coding is legal in Australia and if it is ethical.
Region Coding and Circumvention Devices
DVD is not the originator of Region Coding. Video game systems have used region coding schemes since the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The original circumvention was a physical constraint such that the media for the Famicon (Japanese NES) would not physically fit into NES for other regions (and vice versa). These allowed Nintendo to control the release of software and make importing of Famicon software to other regions less desirable due to the need to circumvent the region protection. With the introduction of the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn (system) the media used was a standard CD. This meant region protection could no longer rely on physical constraints. A CD from one region has the same physical dimensions of a CD from other regions. The BIOS of the system contained the region code for the system. The system would then only allow access to media from the same region. The only way for the media to be played on a system for another region is a circumvention device.
The Australian Digital Agenda Act has given great protection to companies that employ region coding. This is by limiting circumvention devices such that “a circumvention device capable of circumventing, or facilitating the circumvention of, the technological protection measure” 1 would automatically be considered violation of copyright law.
Abstract: After a significant amount of debate and lawsuits about copyright and ethical issues surrounding VCRs in the 1980s, manufacturers and content-providers began to relax as consumers widely purchased the devices and in turn, began renting more videos. In the end, everyone won as VCRs created a new movie rental market and also benefited consumers. But these days, technology does not need to be revolutionary to scare people and cause controversy; it only needs to be evolutionary. In 1999, two companies - TiVo and Replay - introduced a slightly fancier VCR-like device called a digital video recorders (DVR) or a personal video recorder. While the DVRs may not seem much different from VCRs, they are causing lawmakers to look at past copyright cases all over again in a new light and also are managing to wreak havoc on past fair-use and privacy precedents. This paper explores the ethical and privacy considerations with regard to DVRs and how small increments in technology can generate a large amount of controversy.
When a video, video game or feature film is released, if the Australian Classifications Board is unable to classify material or the material is refused then it is effectively censored. Refused material is categorised as refused classification (RC). Despite the fact that the ACB admits adults should be able to watch, play and read what they want, the sole criterion provided for RC classification is “content that is very high in impact and fa...
Abstract: This paper discusses the ongoing court battle between the Motion Picture Association of America, supported by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and various defendants regarding the DeCSS program and its source code. DeCSS is a utility that allows the circumvention of the encryption built into most DVDs. Specifically, the paper examines the implications of the court decision on a range of issues including source code as free speech, HTML linking, and fair use.
Murray, Andrew. "Copyright in the Digital Environment." Information technology law: the law and society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. 268. Print.
However, despite the strong copyright policy and punishment of the United States Federal Copyright Act, as enforced by police as well as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), piracy still rages on, especially...
An option that copyright owners have considered toward protecting their works from circulating in P2P networks is to use a variety of technological tools to prevent piracy. Such tools would be capable of blocking, decoying and redirecting the connections of unauthorized copyrighted file transfers. However, federal and state laws such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of ...
Detailed rules and actions are set out to protect creativities, the film and to control copyright infringement problems in the society.
This paper describes various forms of DRM (Digital Rights Management), the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), and methods of bypassing the afore mentioned subjects. Different forms of transmission of DRM protected material also has a direct relationship with what kind of files are protected by the DMCA and will be discussed. This paper will also discuss how law makers are attempting to halt illegal music sharing and how these attempts are in vain.
Since 1999 the growth of spending on DVD purchases and rentals has been incredible. According to Alexander & Associates, “Rapidly growing consumer activity and spending has built this industry into a major market phenomenon. The DVD format for enjoying pre-recorded entertainment at home is extraordinarily popular and consumers are changing their behavior to accommodate it.”
In today’s dynamic and interconnected world, new forms of technology along with recent case law and legislation has highlighted the profound shortcomings of Australian law in effectively keeping pace with breaches in copyright and issues of privacy. In considering the effectiveness of the law in relation to its protection of individual rights, there is a need to evaluate the law’s ability in enforcing privacy and copyright legislation; responding proactively to the issues created by new technology; and ultimately, whether or not justice has been achieved for individuals. Thus, it is evident that the law has presently failed to address new technology at the expense of individual rights. Albeit this, the legal system is nonetheless doing what it can to achieve fair outcomes for a majority of individuals.
Internet-based file-sharing systems are gaining popularity, and consequently the sharing of copyrighted materials has become rampant. Fueled by server-based systems such as FreeDrive and peer-to-peer systems such as Napster, copyrighted materials are being propagated all over the Internet, and while shutting down such systems seems to answer some of these problems, it is in no way a complete solution. By examining these file-sharing systems and the legal issues that envelope them, more appropriate regulatory means may be discovered.
A Worldwide Problem Software piracy is defined as the illegal copying of software for commercial or personal gain. Software companies have tried many methods to prevent piracy, with varying degrees of success. Several agencies like the Software Publishers Association and the Business Software Alliance have been formed to combat both worldwide and domestic piracy. Software piracy is an unresolved, worldwide problem, costing millions of dollars in lost revenue. Software companies have used many different copy protection schemes. The most annoying form of copy protection is the use of a key disk. This type of copy protection requires the user to insert the original disk every time the program is run. It can be quite difficult to keep up with disks that are years old. The most common technique of copy protection requires the user to look up a word or phrase in the program's manual. This method is less annoying than other forms of copy protection, but it can be a nuisance having to locate the manual every time. Software pirates usually have no trouble "cracking" the program, which permanently removes the copy protection. After the invention of CD-ROM, which until lately was uncopyable, most software companies stopped placing copy protection in their programs. Instead, the companies are trying new methods of disc impression. 3M recently developed a new technology of disc impression which allows companies to imprint an image on the read side of a CD-ROM. This technology would not prevent pirates from copying the CD, but it would make a "bootleg" copy differ from the original and make the copy traceable by law enforcement officials (Estes 89). Sometimes, when a person uses a pirated program, there is a "virus" attached to the program. Viruses are self-replicating programs that, when activated, can damage a computer. These viruses are most commonly found on pirated computer games, placed there by some malignant computer programmer. In his January 1993 article, Chris O' Malley points out that if piracy was wiped out viruses would eventually disappear (O' Malley 60). There are ways that a thrifty consumer can save money on software without resorting to piracy. Computer companies often offer discounts on new software if a person has previously purchased an earlier version of the software. Competition between companies also drives prices low and keeps the number of pirated copies down (Morgan 45). People eventually tire or outgrow their software and decide to sell it.
This case is an example of something which a decade earlier would never have even been considered to be illegal. But, it falls into in of the heavily opposed section 12013 of the new Digital Millenium Copyright Act which tries to halt circumvention of anti-piracy measures. There was opposition before the law passed, but it became stronger when the DVD CAA tried to oppress distribution of the DeCSS - code that could bypass the encryption used on DVDs.4
Unlike its competitors, Sony Pictures Entertainment gave in to Red Box in the first round and signed a contract to provide DVDs for rental on the same day they are released for sale. This was a potentially harmful decision considering the other producers ...
... distributors whatsoever since they already bought the rights. So how would that make these rental shops different from the regular people who bought DVDs and decided to make copies to give it away for free, even just to upgrade it to Blu-ray so that he could play it on his new player? Nothing, because they already bought the rights to the material and it gives them the right to do whatever they want as long as they do not claim it as their own work.