RE: [dvd-discuss] Geeks in government: A good idea?

[Richard Hartman <hartman(at)onetouch.com>]

All this over "The Waterboy" ??  

Well ... matters of good taste aside, let's take a look
at the "parallel import" issue.  I may be going on a stretch
here, but consider the case of electronics superstores.  You
know, the ones that say they'll beat the price on the same
model in a competitor's ad?  Well ... sometimes those stores
have model #s unique to that chain, so that the same item
in another chain actually will have a slightly different
model # so you'll never see the "same item" advertised by
another chain.

Well ... I can see where, if someone has the _exclusive_ rights 
to import the region 2 edition of some movie, then noone else
can sell the same thing.  However, the region 1 edition would
_not_ be the "same thing". 

On the _other_ hand ... I can't see how anyone would be able
to legally obtain the rights to distribute the region 1 
edition in a non-region-1 location, since that was the point
of the whole region system in the first place.

So ... the company importing region-1 versions of "The Waterboy"
might be liable for importing w/o the appropriate right to do
so ... but not for "parallel import" (due to a technicality,
to be sure, but nonetheless...).  But aside from that, _both_
companies importing "The Waterboy" should be held liable for
the damage they are likely to be doing to young, impressionable
minds ...


-- 
-Richard M. Hartman
hartman@onetouch.com

186,000 mi/sec: not just a good idea, it's the LAW!



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Lech Johansen [mailto:jon@nanocrew.net]
> Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2002 9:14 AM
> To: dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
> Subject: Re: [dvd-discuss] Geeks in government: A good idea?
> 
> 
> On Sat, Aug 17, 2002 at 05:10:31AM -0400, PSYchiccr@aol.com 
> (PSYchiccr@aol.com) wrote:
> > Region Free players are in all European stores right 
> now..............
> 
> "Now" being the operative word. The "Norwegian Video 
> Association" (which
> consists of distributors) have stated that they interpret the EUCD as 
> outlawing the sale of Region Free players and the sale of non-Region2 
> DVDs. They have already successfully sued a store which was 
> selling the
> Region1 edition of "The Waterboy". The Supreme Court rejected the
> store's appeal. It is currently illegal in Norway for a store to sell
> the Region1 edition of a DVD for which a Norwegian distributor has
> Region2 distribution rights. This is referred to as parallelimport
> and is an amendment to Norwegian copyright law introduced by a single
> politician in 1993. Despite the Justice Department being 
> critical of the
> amendment, it passed. A group of 3 politicians tried to get it removed
> in 1997 and 1998. A recent report from the Judicial Faculty at the
> University of Oslo concludes that the law has to be revised as soon as
> possible. 
> 
> The problem with the judgement (disregarding that the law itself is a
> problem) is that the Region1 edition of a DVD is often very different
> from the Region2 edition. If it was the same product, people wouldn't
> pay more to get the Region1 edition.  
> 
> -- 
> Jon Johansen
> nanocrew.net
> 
> http://www.eff.org/support/jonfund.html
> 
> MR. LEVY:  I'm sorry, your Honor. I actually have a technology expert
>   with me. Would the Court like to or would they agree to hear a very
>   brief statement on this point from that expert?
> THE COURT: No.    -- MPAA v. Reimerdes injunction hearing, 2000/01/21
>