p2pnet - rss feed: Regional coding helps piracy:
‘Finding Nemo’ was released on video and DVD in the US on November 4. But it won’t be available in the UK until March 18, next year.
And that, says Blockbuster president and ceo Nigel Travis, creates opportunities for online p2p piracy.
Speaking at at the annual two-day Perspectives in European Video conference, and quoted here, "I believe, in addition to the elimination of two-tier pricing, the studios should also make another significant strike against piracy with the elimination of regional coding," he said.
"The extra time on windows created by regional coding is an opportunity that pirates exploit."
He also cited Seabiscuit, released in the in the US yestyerday but not slated for Mexico - "the country next door to the US" - until February, and in the U.K. until May 17, as another example.
"Pirates can drive a cart and horses through these holes in the release schedule, and the loss in revenue hurts us all," he says, "studios, distribution, retailers and, most of all, consumers, who are probably totally confused and frustrated."
