Picking DVD 'Zone Locks'

There are ways to trick technology that limits disks purchased in one region from being played in other parts of the world

by Stephen H. Wildstrom

Reader Nancy Spady, who lives in Europe and spends big chunks of time in the U.S., wants to view DVDs in either region. But she's vexed by software designed to prevent illegal copying and distribution of content. Here's her question.

I live in Europe much of the year, but I spend a couple of months in the U.S. as well. We own multisystem TVs and multiregion DVD players and VCRs. We buy DVD movies (in both regions), especially so our family can learn our new language by listening to movies in it.

Here's the problem: The laptop software is about to lock up on one region if I change its setting one more time. I've paid for all these DVDs and legally own them. I actually live in two places. So why can't I play all my DVDs on my own laptop? Is there software to change this and let me play DVDs from both regions? Or is there a way to stop my PC from counting when I switch regions?

The movie industry originally came up with the DVD zone system to support its very complex system of controlling what movies are distributed where, when, and on what media. The whole system is slowly crumbling under the pressures of globalization and advancing technology, but the DVD zone system lingers annoyingly on.

Software that will disable the zone locks on either standalone software or DVD players is not hard to find. All you have to do is run a Web search for "DVD zone unlock." You'll need to know what DVD player software your computer uses.

The catch is that in the U.S., the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to circumvent any technological method used to protect copyright content, or to "traffic" in tools that aid circumvention. This has driven the trade in such products underground, if only shallowly.

Nevertheless, such software is still readily available. To be on the safe side, I'd suggest buying the software in Europe from a non-U.S. source.

Wildstrom is Technology & You columnist for BusinessWeek. You can contact him at techandyou@businessweek.com.