Don't take this as a sign that Sony, or any other studio, has given up on the Blu-ray format. In fact the the dual format releases are due to distribution agreements for movies financed by multiple studios. For example, the movie Basic Instinct was produced jointly by Sony owned Tri-Star and France's Canal Plus. Since Canal Plus, an HD DVD backer, has distribution rights in France, that's the format used in that country. If you're in the U. S. you simply need to find someone willing to sell you a copy. With the proliferation of online shopping, and American companies already importing foreign movies for sale in the U. S., finding a supplier for these releases isn't a problem.
Although there are also movies from HD DVD studios appearing on Blu-ray, owners of those players aren't quite as excited about the prospect. That's because unlike HD DVD, Blu-ray uses region coding. Region coding was already one of DVD's most contreversial features, as it's designed to control access to content by designating a particular area of the world where a disc can be played. Even though a North American Blu-ray player and HDTV are perfectly capable of reading and displaying the content, all players respect the region coding, effectively making coasters of foreign Blu-ray releases.
The idea of DRM as a trade constraint is becoming a major issue for many people. As the global economy expands to the point where it's trivial to ignore international borders when shopping online, many consumers are frustrated when this freedom is curtailed to prop up an outdated business model. It's even become the focus of lawsuits, such as those Apple is facing over the DRM in songs purchased from iTunes.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 18 Oct 2007 10:51
