It’s something that has annoyed me for quite a while. Like having nowhere to watch certain DBS movies that would already be on streaming services that I have, but because I live in America it doesn’t exist there
In: 11
Region locking fundamentally exists because the rights holders and/or distributors don’t want or aren’t allowed to have consumers in one region purchase or consume content from another region. There are many reasons for why that is, for example:
* Contractual models for distribution rights that haven’t been updated since the times of physical media and regional broadcasting.
* Purchasing power varies between different regions more than is accounted for in currency conversion rates. If you want consistent pricing you must either charge a higher price and accept that some regions cannot reasonably afford your product, or you charge a lower price and potentially have an unprofitable and unsustainable business model. Regional pricing lets you tap in to more markets, but in these days of cheap international shipping and digital media it doesn’t work without enforcement.
* Legal or regulatory requirements can mean products must comply with complicated local distribution procedures (applying for classification in Australia, working with local distribution partners in China etc), be altered for sale in certain regions (eg. Nazi iconography in Germany), or are prohibited entirely.
* Rights holders may simply want different distribution contracts for different regions, they don’t even have to have a reason, it’s their product to do with what they like.
Latest Answers