Australian Commisssion Defends Playstation Mod-Chipping

newt writes "The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is intervening in a court case to defend Sony Playstation owners' right to modify their consoles to play imported games. The ACCC is submitting a friend of the court brief, arguing that Sony's regional playback controls are unlawful. This has implications for DVD region zoning too: The ACCC has previously published its concerns about DVD regioning, and its latest press release about this case reiterates the problems presented to Australian consumers by Sony's practices."

Comments

Why?

[gillbates]

The more I think about it, the more it seems that the United States is the only industrialized country which actively takes rights away from its own citizens.

It would seem that the U.S. is no longer the defender of the free world - for a country which values freedom so much, we are doing less than others to protect it. Why is it that Australia, the EU, and Russia (yes, our former enemy) are going to bat to defend the liberties of individual citizens while our government is actively taking them away?

I used to be proud to be an American.

Re:Why?

[starduste]

I'm not sure of the other countries, but in Australia, we have no rights given to us in the Constitution. Therefore, we have hundreds of civil groups, telling us *why* it's important the government does not take away our freedom. On the other hand, in America, those groups simply claim that the government can't do that (whatever that may be) because of the Constitution - hence some people simply say "oh well, doesn't seem too important anyway". Because we are constantly told why it's important in Australia, we value those freedoms much more, and create a huge uproar when politicians try and take it away.

Call me stupid, but...

[lorcha]

... when I purchase a piece of hardware, can't I do whatever I want with it? Recognizing that it might void the warranty, of course...

Whats the point of region limitations anyway?

[deviantonline]

I have never really understodd this. Why do video games and dvd's only play in certain parts of the world? What is the rationelle behind this?

As far as I know, VHS can be played everywhere (pal/ntsc versions) and computer software isnt limited to specific regions, so why are DVDs and Video Games?

Anything else limited this way? I can understand that diffrent countries have diffrent ratings and what not, but the fact that digital formats can block usage in diffrent regions of the world seems like a backwards thing to be doing in this time of freedom and what not.

DVD region encoding [only slightly OT]

[bovril]

I wonder how long DVD region encoding would've lasted if it was the USofA that had to wait months for titles to be released (if at all)?

I want my Hollywood revisionist history epics now, dammit!!!!