I bought a Blu Ray DVD player a few months ago here in Australia. It wasn’t sold as a multi-zone player but I did receive instructions on how to set it up to be multi-zone. I’ve heard of people who have had the same experience, i.e. having to follow instructions to set up their DVD players as multi-zone players.

Why aren’t they just sold as multi-zone players by default instead of having to go through a set of instructions? Is this some legal thing? Does this only happen in Australia or does it happen in other countries as well?

It is, in fact, a legal thing, though I’m not sure if it’s just Australia or not..

Basically, DVDs and by extension, Blu-Ray, have zones because the movie roducers do not want folks shipping a DVD over to a country or region before the movies officially open in theaters over there.

As for why they aren’t sold as multi-region, I’m guessing it’s so that folks don’t just turn around and sell them overseas. Sure, someone can just switch it to multi-region, but then they are committing a crime, not some anonymous person in a country that might not feel like extraditing…

OK. I won’t switch mine to multi-zone then.

It’s all to do with money.

I wouldn’t worry about switching it to multi-zone as long as the instructions seem reliable.  While it may be illegal depending on where you live, it’s of a legality similar to jailbroken phones - it’s an artificial limitation mostly created in order to make the companies more money by forcing you to buy another identical player for each zone you might want to watch movies from.  While the ‘release date’ timing is somewhat true, that again is an artificial limitation imposed on the industry that is in turn made almost irrelevant due to bootlegs anyway.  Which is a different kettle of fish altogether.

I actually read something after this thread was started (I think it was on whirlpool.net.au) that the ACCC (The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission) basically ruled that locking in zones was anti competitive. This meaning that converting DVD players to multi zone is legal in Australia.

I’ll have to look it up and see if what the current details are. That post I read was a few years old so I don’t know if that situation in law is still around. It would explain why people here seem to be able to easily convert their DVD players to multi zone.

It might count as voiding any warranty or service contracts that the thing may currently be covered by.  I don’t know if that would matter to you.