Reverend Conehead
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I wanted to watch a movie starring one of my favorite French actresses, Catherine Deneuve. Unfortunately, it wasn't available at Amazon in the US or any other American source. So I ordered it from Amazon.fr and had it sent to me from France. If I didn't have some computer skills, I would not have been able to watch it. DVDs and Blu-Rays from Europe are coded as “region 2,” which means they're set to refuse to play on DVD players in the United States and Canada (We're region 1) or anywhere else outside region 2.
Fortunately, there's software you can use to rip the movie to a video file (an AVI, an mkv, an mp4 or whatever) and then create a new DVD without the region BS. If someone has written and uploaded a subtitle file and made it available online, you can even add subtitles that weren't there before. This particular DVD had no subtitles available for it, so I had to do my best to understand the movie without them. I speak French, but not anywhere near as well as a native speaker. I missed some things, but I understood well enough to know what was going on.
Anyway, I don't feel bad at all for copying a movie I've paid for when I needed to in order to be able to even watch it. There's another tech solution. You could get a DVD/Blu Ray player that plays all regions. However, with that solution you can't add subtitles if they're available online.
The Motion Picture Association of America throws fits over software that circumvents their region BS and their copy protection schemes. However, there are legitimate reasons for people to use this technology. Copying a DVD in order to be able to watch it or so that you can add subtitles is fair use just like it's fair use to record a TV show so that you can watch it later.
It's a world market. I think I should be able to order a movie from anywhere in the world and watch it. By the same token, if someone in Russia wants to order the latest Hunger Games movie from the US and watch it, he ought to be able to. He would need to know English since a release here would not have Russian subtitles. You pay for it; you should be able to watch it.
The stupid region restrictions have existed for years. I'm glad they're being defeated now with technology.
Fortunately, there's software you can use to rip the movie to a video file (an AVI, an mkv, an mp4 or whatever) and then create a new DVD without the region BS. If someone has written and uploaded a subtitle file and made it available online, you can even add subtitles that weren't there before. This particular DVD had no subtitles available for it, so I had to do my best to understand the movie without them. I speak French, but not anywhere near as well as a native speaker. I missed some things, but I understood well enough to know what was going on.
Anyway, I don't feel bad at all for copying a movie I've paid for when I needed to in order to be able to even watch it. There's another tech solution. You could get a DVD/Blu Ray player that plays all regions. However, with that solution you can't add subtitles if they're available online.
The Motion Picture Association of America throws fits over software that circumvents their region BS and their copy protection schemes. However, there are legitimate reasons for people to use this technology. Copying a DVD in order to be able to watch it or so that you can add subtitles is fair use just like it's fair use to record a TV show so that you can watch it later.
It's a world market. I think I should be able to order a movie from anywhere in the world and watch it. By the same token, if someone in Russia wants to order the latest Hunger Games movie from the US and watch it, he ought to be able to. He would need to know English since a release here would not have Russian subtitles. You pay for it; you should be able to watch it.
The stupid region restrictions have existed for years. I'm glad they're being defeated now with technology.
