NationStates Jolt Archive

UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION #5

DVD region removal
A resolution to reduce barriers to free trade and commerce.

Category: Free Trade
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: Mercia

Description: The removal of regions in DVD's that prevent a user from one region watching the DVD's form another. One region is all wek need.

Votes For: 4,266
Votes Against: 806

Implemented: Fri Jan 17 2003
Ok, I'm personally quite sick of seeing all the repeals for this one, but do see the need for it to be repealed. It's stupid, badly written, and did I mention stupid? So, here's a repeal draft to top them all, hopefully to finally get rid of this darn thing once and for all.

Please note that this is my first repeal, so this may be a bit shaky.

Repeal 'DVD region removal'
A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution

Category: Repeal
Resolution: #5 (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=4)
Proposed by: Hersfold (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_nation/nation=Hersfold)

Description: UN Resolution #5: DVD region removal (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=4) (Category: Free Trade; Strength: Mild) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: THE NATIONSTATES UNITED NATIONS, IN ASSEMBLY:

RECALLING the passing of UN Resolution #5, "DVD region removal", and it's attempt to increase international Free Trade;

TAKING NOTE of the black market of international media piracy, which involves the illegal copying, distribution, and sale of copyrighted material such as motion pictures and other forms of media recorded on Digital Video Devices (DVD's);

REMEMBERING that DVD regions are designed to prohibit the use of a DVD in an area outside of where it was purchased and intended for use, thus limiting the effect and spread of international media piracy;

SHOCKED that the removal of this system, rather than increasing free trade, holds the great potential to destroy legal trade and national economies, and increase illegal activities worldwide;

FURTHER APPALLED AND GREATLY OPPOSED to the poor use of grammar, spelling, and general formatting that is exhibited in this resolution;

HEREBY REPEALS UN Resolution #5, and renders it null and void for future reference.

Please comment on this draft. If you have anything to add or take out of it, I would greatly welcome it. Support for this proposal is also welcome, but not entirely needed at this point, so please try to refrain from posting unless you actually have something to contribute. I hope to have this sent in sometime during next week, but that's not set in stone. Thanks in advance for all assistance given.

Edits made to original draft: Removed clause encouraging passage of a regulatory resolution

No comments- I think it's perfect as is. If it were me, I'd take out the last line about a future resolution, but that's just because I'm pro-dvd piracy. :)

If it were me, I'd take out the last line about a future resolution, but that's just because ...
Ditto, but because it's pushing the line on having a Repeal make suggestions about new law ... as it were.

AND ENCOURAGES the passage of a resolution to regulate the use of such regions, to protect international economies.

Nuke this line and you have our support - there's no need for limitations, period.

FREE MARKETS RULE!

*ahem* sorry, lost myself for a moment there...

:cool: Ok, I can take that out. With the way the game is organized, DVD regions shouldn't be all that hard to figure out anyway (or so one would think).

Are there any other suggestions?

I'll support it. Nice job.

We will not support this resolution. An increase in free trade is good, DVD regions prohibit that. Anyway, regions are pointless, people just buy multi-region DVD players. No need for a repeal.

We will not support this resolution. An increase in free trade is good, DVD regions prohibit that. Anyway, regions are pointless, people just buy multi-region DVD players. No need for a repeal.

Wegason, DVD regions help protect the spread of legal free trade.

REMEMBERING that DVD regions are designed to prohibit the use of a DVD in an area outside of where it was purchased and intended for use, thus limiting the effect and spread of international media piracy;

SHOCKED that the removal of this system, rather than increasing free trade, holds the great potential to destroy legal trade and national economies, and increase illegal activities worldwide;

DVD Regions are a code set in every DVD at the time of production, and can only be set by the manufacturer. DVD Players are designed to play only DVD's with a certain code. IRL, the US and Canada are in Region 1, so you can only buy DVD's and DVD Players from Region 1. If I bought a player in the UK and brought it back to the US, it would be as useful as a pile of scrap metal, because it couldn't play any DVD's I had. Same thing if I brought a DVD to the UK - it could have the greatest movie of all time on there, but nobody would be able to see it, because it was in the wrong region. DVD players are not built multi-region - it completely compromises the system.

What this does is prevent people who illegally copy these DVD's from distributing them worldwide. With the removal of these codes, a huge Black Market can open up that would greatly cut into legitimate sales - sales which can be taxed and monitored, and support national economies. Black Market sales do nothing except retract from your economies, as well as retract from the profits of the legitimate businesses, thus limiting their ability to create more films, eventually leading to the bankruptcy of the corporation, and the end of free trade of film media.

So, um... if there's nothing else, I'll probably submit this tommorrow.

DVD players are not built multi-region
Actually there are region free DVD players out that can play DVDs from any region.

Actually there are region free DVD players out that can play DVDs from any region.

Exactly, just like my one, like the one in my computer, like the one my brother has. They are everywhere.

Ironically enough, from a mechanics standpoint, Repeal this will reduce free trade :p

Ironically enough, from a mechanics standpoint, Repeal this will reduce free trade :p

Exactly what i was saying with my first post in this thread :p

Actually there are region free DVD players out that can play DVDs from any region.
Ok, then, that's the first I've heard of this. But even so, not every player is regionless (and I'm guessing they'd be a tad more expensive? :confused: ), and piracy would be slowed compared to what it is now.

Ironically enough, from a mechanics standpoint, Repeal this will reduce free trade :p

Yes, I'm fully aware of that, smarta--. :p :D I can't help it if the game's written a certain way. I did originally have a line in there recommending that a new proposal regulating the DVD regions be passed to "regulate and promote legitimate free trade" ( ;) ), but really that was so that someone would help nullify the effects of this proposal. Fris asked me to take it out as a possible rule violation, and since it wasn't wholly necessary, I didn't feel like arguing the point.

Since nobody has actually suggested any changes to the current draft, I'm going to get this approved as-is. If anyone wants to make any changes at this point, then they will be entered in the next time I have a chance - meaning the next time I submit this, if it doesn't get approved the first time around. I'm off.


- Approval for submission granted by Game Moderator Sirocco in #themodcave at 3:13 PM EST -

Ok, then, that's the first I've heard of this. But even so, not every player is regionless (and I'm guessing they'd be a tad more expensive? :confused: ), and piracy would be slowed compared to what it is now.
Depends on what model you're looking at, I've heard of them for as low as $38.76 (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3163040).

As this proposed repeal goes against our idea that electronic entertainment and technology should become more international, and less restricted, we will not support it.

OoC: I think I've seen at least 5 of these, in the two weeks I've played this game...

OoC: I think I've seen at least 5 of these, in the two weeks I've played this game...

I don't suppose this (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=417388) was one of them. :D

I support a repeal, mainly because the original resolution is possibly the most absurd example of inappropriate legislation in the NSUN's history.

DVD regions? What in God's green arse do DVD regions have to do with the UN?

DVD regions? What in God's green arse do DVD regions have to do with the UN?They're a global affair spanning numerous nations. Having a global organization that spans several nations deal with it is, well, rather logical.

They're a global affair spanning numerous nations. Having a global organization that spans several nations deal with it is, well, rather logical.
They're DVDs! We're essentially talking about one's (in)ability to watch a film anywhere in the world.

OoC: I find DVD regions very irritating, considering that I've lived in three different DVD regions in the past five years...

They're DVDs! We're essentially talking about one's (in)ability to watch a film anywhere in the world.
It's a free trade issue. With no region, there's no need to worry about if DVD A can play in Region X. It works everywhere. Saves money on creation of multiple DVD-types and player types.

Is it the most pressing issue in the world? Nah. Is it worthy of UN consideration? Close enough. It's a damn sight better than yet another "Protect teh Treez" Resolution.

-----------------

Ok, this seems to be a good time to post an FAQ for this repeal. Many people don't seem to be reading my reasons, or are simply ignoring them. So here we go...

What is this repeal doing?

"Repeal "DVD region removal"" is attempting to repeal the poorly written Resolution #5, a Free Trade Resolution which banned the use of "DVD Regions", a system that, IRL, prevents DVD's from one region being played in a player from another, and vice versa.

So what's a "DVD Region" and what does it do?

DVD Regions are a security system implanted in most DVD's and Players designed to prevent a DVD from being played in an area where it wasn't purchased. This helps to limit the spread of international media piracy, where a movie is illegally copied, recorded on blank DVD's (or video cassettes, which have no such protection), and then sold at a far cheaper price that what you would find at the local movie rental. This practice drastically cuts into the sales of the movie producers, which could hamper their ability to create more movies. While DVD's are an inconvenience if you happen to cross between two or more of them, they do greatly help stop the spread of crime, thus protecting the "Free Trade" the original resolution failed to protect.

There are also "region-less" DVD's that can play in any region, but in my experience, these tend to be lower-grade movies that may not have made it to theaters, or didn't get very high sales. Likewise, I've been informed that there are also regionless Players available. These do compromise the system somewhat, but in my experience with a Region 1 DVD Player, regionless DVD's don't seem to work as well (they like to skip entire scenes for no reason), and they're not usually the kinds of movies that pirates would target anyway.

(OOC) So what region am I in?

Currently, (IRL) the DVD Regions are divided up like so:

http://www.laserrot.com/images/infobase/regionalmap2.gif

Region 1 - The U.S., U.S. territories and Canada
Region 2 - Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
Region 3 - Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong
Region 4 - Mexico, South America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
Region 5 - Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Africa (except South Africa), North Korea, Mongolia
Region 6 - China

Most DVD's and players purchased in one of those colored areas will only be compatible with DVD's and players purchased in that colored area, or possibly adjacent ones. Another way to check is to look on the back on one of your DVD's. It should have one of these logos on it somewhere, depending on where you live:

http://www.yu4you.com/images/dvd/region1.gifhttp://www.yu4you.com/images/dvd/region2.gifhttp://www.yu4you.com/images/dvd/region3.gifhttp://www.yu4you.com/images/dvd/region4.gifhttp://www.yu4you.com/images/dvd/region5.gifhttp://www.yu4you.com/images/dvd/region6.gif

If it doesn't have any of those logos, then it will probably say "Available Worldwide" on it instead, which means it's one of those lower-grade region-less ones. Check another DVD if you want to see the logo.

So it's a security thing. How is this supposed to benefit us?

DVD Regions, like I've said, help prevent the illegal distribution of DVD's from crossing international borders. Yes, this still allows pirates to operate on a more local level, or, if they're in regions like IRL Region #2, they could even cross between continents. But the point is, this does prevent the spread of the crime somewhat. Some criminals will have their own sales drastically cut, many won't feel like it's worth it. It still protects the legitimate movie-making business that we've come to love and glorify so much ever since the real silver screen. Without this security, the movie industry will greatly suffer. And that's what I'm trying to prevent.

But how are these regions supposed to protect against criminals, once they've figured out how to re-write them?

Yes, there are some people IRL who have figured out how to get around the Region Codes. In fact, the very first page I got when I used Google for those images up top said something like "Want to hack your DVD's Region Codes? Here's how!". I'm NOT posting the URL or telling you my search terms, beause I doubt the mods would appreciate it. But, remember that no security system is completely fool-proof. In Medieval Times, castles had the famous "moats" surrounding them and offering protection. Attacking armies built bridges. Then the lock came into use, a lock that used a unique key that only one person had. The lock pick and/or bobby pin was invented. Much more recently, the car alarm was the new thing, guaranteed to scare away theives. Yeah, they worked for a while, but now they're so sensitive they get ignored, thus failing in their simple purpose. Nowadays, firewalls are the staple protection system for your internet connection - it's even mentioned in our current Resolution at Vote. Yet you still hear cases of "My computer was hacked!!!" "Didn't you have a firewall?" "It didn't do anything!".

My point with this abridged history of secutiry systems is that everything becomes obsolete evetually. You've all probably heard the joke that the second you buy a computer, it gets outdated five minutes later. BUT, these security systems continue to become more advanced and more fool-proof, thus making them harder and harder to hack. In the American Civil War, moats were used in fortifications, but large wooden posts had been placed in them to prevent enemies from simply climbing through or over. Locks have become more secure - some car ignitions now have an "Engine Immobilizer", where if a key is used that does not have a correct transmitter embedded in it, the engine won't start. Car Alarms are no longer sensitive to the next-door neighbor's kid's soccer ball rolling into it - now they are triggered by the opening of something that should be closed, like the car hood, a door, etc. Firewalls and virus software get updated daily to prevent against new methods - a completely updated copy is the safest protection you can have. The same will hold true with DVD regions. The technology will be upgraded continually, thus confusing theives galore, and preventing them from doing their illegal trade. But without region codes, we will have no such protection in NationStates, and our economies will gradually slow down as the criminals are allowed to step up their game.

Won't this repeal actually reduce our economies?

:rolleyes: Yes, as our illustrious moderator pointed out, this will put a small dent in your economies to begin with, as it is repealing a "Free Trade" resolution. If you'll look at the first post of this topic, you will notice that I originally had a clause that stated:

AND ENCOURAGES the passage of a resolution to regulate the use of such regions, to protect international economies.

This was so that we would actually have soemthing in place to further protect our economies, and to help counter the effects of the repeal. Remember, the original resolution was "Mild". If a new resolution is passed with a "Significant" or "Strong" strength, then your economies will go up compared to what they were before. ;) I still encourage the passage of another resolution, but had to remove that to prevent a possible rule violation.

I'm not trying to destroy economies - neither was the original author. But his/her attempt had repercussions that they may not have seen, which are evident today. I'm trying to fix this mistake, for the good of NationStates. Please support me in this endeavor.

Greetings. I would take out your line beginning 'Further appalled &c'.

There are some simple reasons for this.

1) Poor grammar and/or spelling, while reprehensible, are not international problems unless they cause misunderstanding. Fortunately or unfortunately, this is not the case here.

2) The Law of the First Stone applies. I quote as follows from your repeal document:

Exhibit #1: "RECALLING the passing of UN Resolution #5, "DVD region removal", and it's attempt to increase international Free Trade..." should read "...its attempt to..."

Exhibit #2: "FURTHER APPALLED AND GREATLY OPPOSED to the poor use of grammar, spelling, and general formatting that is exhibited in this resolution..." should read "FURTHER APPALLED BY AND GREATLY OPPOSED TO..."

I am sorry to cause inconvenience. But I feel that international standards should be upheld. Somehow.

*Does not appreciate the fact that a (neutral?) Senior Mod seems to be against his repeal**Does not apprectiate motivations being applied to me that don't exist* But thanks for the promotion to SGM :p

I have no opinion one way or the other on this matter. I'm not even in the UN. All I care about is if a Proposal is legal or not. My first post was just my amusement at the irony of the situation. My subsequent posts where branched off from that, and defending the appropriateness of the UN considering DVD regions.

There are also "region-less" DVD's that can play in any region, but in my experience, these tend to be lower-grade movies that may not have made it to theaters, or didn't get very high sales.Just a point of order, this isn't always the case. I have all three Indiana Jones movies on DVD from South Korea, and they're regionless. They don't have the extras of the American version, but there they are.

Also, pornography tends to be regionless too ;)

And, finally, there is software that can turn regioned players into regionless ones, they're especially common for PS2's (essentially, they involve a BIOS flash which makes the machine think it's changed regions), but they're a pain in the neck.

Anyway, this is beside the point. I'm not trying to scuttle your Repeal, especially since it's better thought out than any previous attempt.

-snip-

Ok, thanks. That would have worked better had you posted it before it was submitted, but that's ok. I'll make the grammatical changes in the next submission. The line's not getting taken out, though.

*Does not apprectiate motivations being applied to me that don't exist* But thanks for the promotion to SGM :p

I thought you were a SGM... ah well. Sorry, it was just my understanding that mods were supposed to remain neutral in things like this unless it actually violated rules, especially if they weren't in the UN. My mistake, one which I'll learn from. Thanks for switching accounts, though. :)

Just a point of order, this isn't always the case. I have all three Indiana Jones movies on DVD from South Korea, and they're regionless. They don't have the extras of the American version, but there they are.

Also, pornography tends to be regionless too ;)

Hack watching some of that stuff, now, is he? :eek: ;)

I know there's a few exceptions to the rule. In countries like South Korea, they're probably a bit less worried about DVD security than Americans are anyway. But, in general...

And, finally, there is software that can turn regioned players into regionless ones, they're especially common for PS2's (essentially, they involve a BIOS flash which makes the machine think it's changed regions), but they're a pain in the neck.

Yeah. Google gets you everything, even pages that should technically be illegal. :rolleyes:

Anyway, this is beside the point. I'm not trying to scuttle your Repeal, especially since it's better thought out than any previous attempt.

Thanks! :D

Yeah. Google gets you everything, even pages that should technically be illegal. :rolleyes:
eBay ;)

Ah, true. The site where you can buy nothing for $2 and the seller still gets a good feedback rating.

Ok, then, that's the first I've heard of this. But even so, not every player is regionless (and I'm guessing they'd be a tad more expensive? :confused: ), and piracy would be slowed compared to what it is now.

You have not heard of region free DVD players? How may i ask? I thought they were extremely common, they are in Britain. In RL where do you live?

Greetings.

Yes, there are indeed region-free DVD players. For the few research stations within our domain that allow electronic technology, we have purchased only this variety. It makes no sense to have to buy several such items to view our legitimately obtained materials.

We suspect that region numbers and other peculiar trappings of the modern-era states are designed merely to increase revenue and to bilk poor states of their rights. Likewise the extension of copyright duration in some states and various misguided attempts to levy tolls on the products of human ingenuity and artistry.

In Roathin, we establish the rights of inventors and creators by sorcerous fiat. Violators of such rights (said rights being held in trust by our sovereignty) are geased to perform a hieratically-determined amount of community service.

OOC: Just by chance, could you people figure out that putting tag after tag after http tag makes the page really really long and annoys some of us who don't want to look at pictures? Thanks.

It's a free trade issue. With no region, there's no need to worry about if DVD A can play in Region X. It works everywhere. Saves money on creation of multiple DVD-types and player types.

Is it the most pressing issue in the world? Nah. Is it worthy of UN consideration? Close enough. It's a damn sight better than yet another "Protect teh Treez" Resolution.
Well, I completely disagree that it's in any way worthy of consideration. You might as well mandate VHS formatting. I'm with you on 'teh treez' though. A shame, because the succession of God-awful environmental resolutions have probably had a detrimental effect on the chances of getting good legislation in this area.

Here's the thing. Is this an utterly worthless resolution? Probably. Should it be repealed? No. Why? Because it's a waste of time. This isn't an important issue, and there's no reason to clog up queue space to kill it. You're basically just wasting your time, and it looks like you're organized enough to do something far, far better.

Though, Hersfold, the entire explanation you did with all the fun formatting and images and stuff? Pretty, but total bunk. This is not the real world, those seven regions you put down do not exist. Instead, you have to deal with the regions of the 37,000 nations in the U.N. There's a lot more areas that can be divided into regions than just the simple seven. As a result, it gets a hell of a lot more complicated to try to use regions and in that particular case I'm more for the resolution than against anyways, despite my unbinding hatred of people who can't spell.

Finally, you can't guarantee the long term effects that you say will happen. That's the decision of the mods, and as far as I know the effects of a resolution are invariably a one-time shot. So you'd hit the economy, sure - but it's not as likely to go back up.

However, I STILL don't think it's an issue that really even deserves consideration now that it has been passed.