Problems with DVD

[david mankins]

The region-coding of DVDs is an attempt to restrict their distribution
in a way that permits a publisher to maximize their profits.  In the
US, with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, region-coding has gained
the support of law (and attempts to circumvent region-coding, even on
legally-purchased materials, are technically a violation of this
law). 

Some Japanese publishers are beginning to restrict what they sell for
export (particularly to the United States) in hopes that a US
publisher will license the material.  A number of popular bilingual
editions of manga have been restricted this way, because the manga are
seen as competing with the US licensed product.

Given the pricing structure of Japanese DVDs, I'm surprised publishers
would restrict export, since any US licensed product would almost
certainly be sold for less (this is not true of translated manga ---
US titles are priced higher than their Japanese, or bilingual,
counterparts).