Philips vs Unlicensed DVD Players

Kallahar writes "NewScientist is running an article about how Phillips, Sony, and Pioneer have "asked customs officials throughout Europe to seize players made by unlicensed factories." Philips, Sony and Pioneer have pooled many hundreds of patents covering all aspects of the DVD system. Philips administers the pool, grants licences and collects royalties, which are then shared three ways." This comes on the heals of philips going after copy protected CDs. The draw for these DVD players for consumers is probably both price, and the fact that they are often free of those pesky region encodings (especially nice for anime junkies)