DeCSS, crypto, (regions removed??!)

R. Hirschfeld ray at unipay.nl
Fri Jan 10 06:46:24 EST 2003


> Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2003 05:13:03 -0800 (PST)
> From: alan <alan at clueserver.org>

> I wonder how they deal with the RCE (Region Code Enforced) discs?

Nitpick: I think RCE stands for Regional Coding Enhancement.

> RCE is a sceme that causes the disc not to work in region free players.  
> If you want a good test disc, try the region 1 version of "Spider-man".  
> In a region free player it will bring up a map of region codes and make 
> nasty noises about how you need a region one player.  The disc works fine 
> in players where you can set the region.  (Some region ocdeless players 
> can do this, some cannot.)

>From what I've read, RCE works by adding code on the disc that the
player runs to select menus, etc.  It checks whether the player is set
to play discs from other regions, and if so puts up a failure message.
So an all-region player won't play an RCE disc, and the disc itself is
region-free so an auto-switching player doesn't know which region to
set.  But manually setting the region works (as you pointed out).

I don't know what's done in Sweden, but I suspect that if the use of
RCE becomes more widespread then most future region-free players will
support selecting the region.  Here in the Netherlands one can have
most DVD players modified to be region-free.  Consumer electronics
shops will do it, so I assume it's legal.


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