d day used our newssubmit to tell us that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is intervening in an important Federal Court copyright case mounted by Sony. The ACCC is seeking to defend the rights of millions of Playstation owners.
Sony Computer Entertainment Australia and related companies are seeking in the Federal Court case to have new provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 applied in such a manner as to prevent consumers from having the region coding in their Playstation consoles modified. The device which permits region coding modification is called a 'mod chip' which, once installed, permits the use of imported Playstation games and legitimate backup copies.
Region Coding
The ACCC has for some time been investigating the regional playback control (RPC) technology present in DVD players and accompanying films. The ACCC is aware that DVD RPC effectively divides the world into six regions for the purposes of DVD distribution, preventing inter-region substitution of discs and hardware. The practical effect of RPC is that a consumer who has purchased a DVD player in Australia may be prevented from playing films obtained from overseas. The ACCC believes that overseas markets give Australian consumers access to a wider range of competitively priced film titles, with special features not otherwise available in Australia. In the ACCC's view, this means Australian consumers are forced to pay higher prices for films with fewer features and a lesser range of film titles.
RPC is also present in Playstation technology, albeit on a more limited scale. Playstation, which is produced by the various Sony computer entertainment companies, is distributed according to three regional zones: North America, Japan (which covers all of Asia), and Europe, which includes Australia. The RPC restrictions in Playstations can be overcome by installing a mod chip in a Playstation console.
ACCC Involvement in Sony's Court Action
The ACCC has been granted leave to be heard in Sony's action in the Federal Court in relation to whether modifying Playstation consoles infringes the new parts of the Copyright Act 1968.
"The ACCC is contending that a multi-national company, Sony Computer Entertainment, is moving in this particular case to prevent Australian consumers from reaping the benefits of globalisation", ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, said today. "It is apparent that Sony is seeking to have an Australian law interpreted to prevent such consumers from enjoying games bought off-shore. The ACCC will submit to the court that Sony's interpretation of the law is legally incorrect and will present arguments to that effect".
You can read the full press release here.
Source: ACCC
