DVD Zoning should be illegal in Australia

Did you know that the Trade Practices Act (TPA) prevent practices that restrict consumer choice? Did you know that DVD's are exempt from the parallel importing copyright amendment?

Why?

The TPA allows you to select the DVD release you want, regardless of region because different regions get different versions (and different titles in some cases). Check out DVD Compare for the full details. Add to that the PAL/NTSC differences
(PAL Speed up ) and we get a very good reason to allow parallel importing and protection against zoning in the TPA.

So I fire off a query to the ACCC about this to see if they are doing anything about it.

They aren't!

I got a message back explaining the regioning system (which, oddly enough, I know all about) with a single paragraph explaining why they are doing nothing (There is no real difference between regions). I cannot reproduce the entire thing here as they have a copyright notice on the base of all their emails.

The question remains; Why are the ACCC scared of Hollywood?

They are also scared of the banks.

Come back Allan Fels, please. The ACCC has lost it's teeth, we need a champion.

Twenty minutes of research on the web and you can get enough ammunition for the TPA to remove zoning permanently, provided you have the authority. The ACCC has the authority, but it doesn't have the johnstons!