In a message dated 5/2/00 4:47:50 PM, radhaz@redshift.com writes:

<<From DVD.com

                          THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DVD: Region Codes 

Unlike CDs, DVDs often have regional coding. This was done as part of
the original DVD copyrighting, preventing the illegal copying of DVD
titles, something that kept the movie industry from embracing DVD for a
long time. A special encoding in the pits and grooves of the DVD disc
checks to see what type of decoder is in the player. If that player is
incompatible, the disc will not play. 

For the purpose of creating discs, the world was split into six
different regions for DVD. Region 1 is North America and Canada, while
Western Europe and Japan make up Region 2. Southeast Asia is Region 3;
South America and Australia make up Region 4; Africa, Eastern Europe and
Russia are Region 5; and China is Region 6. With region encoding, if you
tried to play a disc created in North America (Region 1) on a player
manufactured in China (Region 6), that disc would not play. 

While the tampering of Region Codes is tantamount to piracy, some
companies have started an industry of "code-free" players. As well,
DVD-ROM drives for computers allow the user a set number of Region Code
changes. "Code-free" DVD players, though, often do not carry a
manufacturer's warranty. >>

::profuse swearing:: Are you telling me that if I wanted to order a DVD that 
has the Mihoshi Special on it, I won't be able to watch it because the 
players made in North America cannot read those made in Japan? This seriously 
irks me and makes me depressed beyond means since it isn't available in 
America ::more profuse swearing::