[jols]

I have just had one of these irritating, un-useable, lemony drives installed in my beautiful looking, but now thoroughly worthless mac powerbook 1.5ghz.

I'll never buy another mac computer.

It is unconceivable that a computer that is used by design/media/travelling people can be disabled so deliberately. I just want to watch dvd's from overseas. jesus.

I'd like to say something witty and snide about their advertising or 'it just works' bullshit that young identity-less geeks spout or something, but I think I'll just use my considerable talent at communicating with people to ensure that everybody who even uses the letter 'm' in my presence has plenty to think about before succumbing to apple's overpriced charms.

The sooner these mean-spirited, conscience-less, sell-out thieves are run out of business and preferably out of town, the better.

Eat a di*k apple.

[Big Mac]

"Sounds like someone's got a case of the Mundays."

[Eug]

Originally Posted by jols 

I have just had one of these irritating, un-useable, lemony drives installed in my beautiful looking, but now thoroughly worthless mac powerbook 1.5ghz.

I'll never buy another computer.

It is unconceivable that a computer that is used by design/media/travelling people can be disabled so deliberately. I just want to watch dvd's from overseas. jesus.

I'd like to say something witty and snide about their advertising or 'it just works' bullshit that young identity-less geeks spout or something, but I think I'll just use my considerable talent at communicating with people to ensure that everybody who even uses the letter 'm' in my presence has plenty to think about before succumbing to apple's overpriced charms.

The sooner these mean-spirited, conscience-less, sell-out thieves are run out of business and preferably out of town, the better.

Eat a di*k apple.

Fixed.

[Naplander]

Yeah, but he has a point. My drive is still permanently locked to region 1, which is VERY frustrating for me as I live in a region 2 area.

I am hoping (praying) that the Leopard upgrade will make it region 2 again, but I fear the worst!

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Naplander 

I am hoping (praying) that the Leopard upgrade will make it region 2 again

Don't count on it.

[peeb]

It probably won't - this sucks, but is the MAFIAA, not Apple. Although, why they can't put drives that have region free firmware available, I don't know.

[jols]

hey eug,

what does that mean? i'm not sure of your inference. please let me in on the joke...

[jCurve69]

I have only recently started searching for a way around this rediculous issue.

I have been using Mac's for sometime now and after readin through this thread there are a few things that ring true. and some good points have been made.

Recently I had the privilage of having my post pulled from the Apple discussions site. It wasn't to nasty all though i did have a go at the "It Just Works Campaign" because even as a Mac devotted I can say it obviously doesn't. I think the reason it was pulled was because of the interesting response I got from another member explaining that Apple was currently under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading on this subject for a potentiel breach of the fair trading practices act. Not only do these drives prevent the consumer from getting that warm fuzzy feeling associated with being the proud owner of a Mac, they also restrict the sales of DVD's by retailers because we are forced to choose more carefully.

Anyway as mentioned in an earlier post I also had a result in zeroing data and reinstalling the OS on my last 3 Powerbooks each time the counter was completely reset. I could live with that back then because I like to give my system the odd clean out anyway. But I fear now with my Macbook Pro (man these things run hot) that this won't be the case so I am reluctant to try. It's all good and well to suggest an external drive but I travel and really don't want the hassle of lugging more cables and hardware than i have too.

Pcummins in an earlier post made the point that things may not change whithout a consumer backlash so why don't we give them one. we all know people that own macs and they know people as well and so do those people. Whatever the backlash is it needs to spread fast. Possibly a you tube station that is set up specifically for the purpose of requesting a change anyway you want we can post videos and messages in as many public places as possible. It's to easy to sit back lazily and bitch and moan but if we want things to change we have to find a way to get through.

It is obvious that there is know reel solution in this thread so rather than going over the same old ground why don't we do somthing about it. There are no piracy or copyright issues here so there is nothing standing in our way.

I am open to suggestions and willing to be part of any action.

At this stage I am seriously considering a PC for traveling with.

Cheers

J

[Hawkeye_a]

I agree with JCurve. consumer pressure is required in this case. From what i remember, non region coded drives were made legal n 1996 or something, and matshita is ONE OF THE ONLY companies not to offer a firmware upgrade to RPC1 (region free).

Most of the drives in Apple's computers are matshita.

It is my personal opinion that:
1. this form of DRM or whatever, should be illegal as it doesnt have any "legal" purpose. it doesnt deter piracy (only encourages it).
2.It is just plain wrong, as honest consumers who buy foreign DVDs are PURPOSELY prevented from using legally purchaced goods with the hardware.
3. On the computer's tech-specs pages on Apple's website (where most consumers get all the info they need before making a purchase), no mention is made of the (potentially illegal) limitation of the driv in the particular machine.
4. No warning is given or permission asked for when the Apple DVD player Sftware first sets the region of the drive, usinging up 1 change.

I am not a lawyer, i am not a technitian. i do know that RPC1 drives are legally made by companies, so i know it is both technically and legally feasible. And as a thinking being, i feel that it *wrong* to limit consumers in such a way.
a)it is wrong for matshita to not make a region free firmware available
b)it is wrong for Apple to not warn consumers before setting the region on the drive the first time.

In conclusion, the combination of the choices made by both matshita and Apple have purposely and sufficiently contributed to hardships for consumers of their products without prior warning from either manufacturer.

If there is a petition, or a movement, or a lawsuit or whatever asainst matshita and/or Apple, i would support it, unless matshita/Apple make available a free firmware upgrade to make the drives in Apple computers region free (RPC1)

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

I agree with JCurve. consumer pressure is required in this case. From what i remember, non region coded drives were made legal n 1996 or something, and matshita is ONE OF THE ONLY companies not to offer a firmware upgrade to RPC1 (region free).

Um, NO company releases firmware upgrades to make their drives RPC1. All the region free firmwares you see available for download have been hacked by third parties.

The Matshita drives can be hacked, it's just that nobody currently has either the expertise or the desire to hack them at the moment.

[analogika]

The company's name, by the way, is "Matsushita".

[analogika]

Originally Posted by jCurve69 

I am open to suggestions and willing to be part of any action.

At this stage I am seriously considering a PC for traveling with.

And that would be a different situation how?

[peeb]

Region coded drives suck. It means I have to rip dvds just to watch them. Defective by design.

[pcummins]

Originally Posted by jCurve69 

Pcummins in an earlier post made the point that things may not change without a consumer backlash so why don't we give them one.

In Australia the ACCC forced companies to do this as it was shown to be anti-competitive to restrict playback of legally purchased DVDs and games (ie, PS1 and PS2 games). You should lobby your respective groups in your countries to use this as a precedent to removing the region locking (I will have to contact the ACCC concerning the PlayStation 3's DVD/BluRay disc locking - if you can have region free games, I'm sure they can have region free BluRay/DVD too).

Failing that you can attempt to exercise your consumer rights for a product that works. I suggest you check what your consumer rights are (particularly, if a device is not fit to operate with existing devices (displays or discs, not hard in the whole 1080p vs 1080i snafu and disc regions)) and see if it is legal to purchase and return HD-DVD or BluRay players if they do not pass your requirements with say, a disc from the wrong region. A simultaneous effort would be quite effective in this case if organised carefully and in a law abiding manner. (Though, it'd probably be on the same scale as getting a refund for Windows OEM licenses).

I'd recommend trying to get the ACCC or equivalent government organisation to handle it however, where possible. If no luck on that front, maybe several thousand or even tens of thousands of open-box players may cause them to change their tune...

[odesa]

Haha! nevermind...

[xsulux]

any good news?

[jmcnally]

Just ordered a new 24" iMac and it will seriously cramp my style if I can't watch some R2 discs on it. Does anyone know whether the new iMacs will still have region-locked drives?

Can we lure the firmware hacker guy out of retirement somehow?

[duck]

jmcnally: I don't like your chances. Since the machines are even thinner, I suspect they're using the Matsushita drives exclusively, which means you can't even swap them out for a Pioneer.

As for lureing xvi out of retirement, it's been tried, with 4 figure sums of money. No such luck.

[entity119]

Originally Posted by duck 

jmcnally: I don't like your chances. Since the machines are even thinner, I suspect they're using the Matsushita drives exclusively, which means you can't even swap them out for a Pioneer.

Good news...


Googling points to quite a few cracked Optiarc (Sony/NEC IIRC) drive firmwares; hopefully it's just a matter of time.

[duck]

entity119: Can you clarify what that picture is showing? Is it the shipped drive inside the new iMacs, or is it another 9.5mm optical drive?

[entity119]