|
I'm referring to the system which allows DVDs to be played only on equipment
sold in the market for which they are released. For example, a Region 1 DVD
is intended for North America, and may only be played on DVD players made
for sale in North America. All-region players are available, but are rare
and expensive.
The World Trade Organization has a series of regulations that restrict
"non-tariff barriers to trade," and it occurred to me that the region system
is precisely that. There is a special Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement
which addresses this type of restriction: "The TBT Agreement tries to ensure
that technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures
do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. Examples of measures falling
under the TBT Agreement include eco-labelling requirements, rules on the
recycling and disposal of goods, product noise specifications, electricity
efficiency requirements." (See
http://adb.org/Documents/Others/OGC-Toolkits/WTO/wto0400c2.asp.)
The one reason I can think of that the WTO's TBT Agreement might not apply
here is that WTO regulations apply to actions by member governments, while
DVD standards are presumably set by an industry group. The WTO's powers are
so broad, though, that I wonder whether this is a real limitation. The WTO
applies sanctions to member nations which fail to pass laws to require or
prohibit certain types of private action. It seems entirely plausible to me
that they could do the same thing here.
I don't think the WTO is likely to act on this matter, but I'm curious: does
anyone have informed opinions on whether they could?
|
| |
| |
|
