[Misc] WMP 11 automatically setting region code?

[rms]

Could it be that Windows Media Player 11 is automatically setting region code of DVDRW drive?

I have never set region code on my drives. After installing new second drive (they come with region "none") I inserted some region1 dvd, and got digital rights violation error from WMP. To check, I put it in other drive and got the same error. I have never seen any errors like that before, must have come from WMP11.

After that, I discovered that region of both drives is set to 1 (!?).

Any ideas, how is that possible?

[phkninja]

when you put the dvd in the drive it automatically sets the region. So your region is now region 1 (since you put the region 1 disk in both drives).

[rms]

What exactly sets the region, is it media player? Because it is not drive itself - simply inserting disk in the drive, or browsing files with Windows explorer doesn't set the region.

If it is a player, what rights it have to change hardware settings without my permission, is it mentioned somewhere in the license agreement(I could not find anything)? I am about sure that WMP10 did not do that automatically, but maybe I am wrong.

Anyway, it seems to me like too much over the limits of acceptable.

[Bezalel]

What exactly sets the region, is it media player? Because it is not drive itself - simply inserting disk in the drive, or browsing files with Windows explorer doesn't set the region.

If it is a player, what rights it have to change hardware settings without my permission, is it mentioned somewhere in the license agreement(I could not find anything)? I am about sure that WMP10 did not do that automatically, but maybe I am wrong.

Anyway, it seems to me like too much over the limits of acceptable.

The player needs to set the region before it can play region coded DVDs. I beleive that almost all players will set the initial region without asking the user. Subsequent changes will ask the user and the final change will provide an additional warning.

[rms]

The player needs to set the region before it can play region coded DVDs.

Of course, player does not need to set anything. In fact, it does not have any legal rights to do so(apply irreversible changes to hardware, without owner's consent, and, in addition, call them "user changes").

Do I, or do I have not the rights to leave the drive with region set to "none" ? (say, I want to sell it later?)... and as a result, of course, not be able to play region-coded DVD's. Or, M$ has taken over some of my rights already - for my own "good" ?

Did you know that there are several places, where you can - completely legally - buy DVD's of ALL the regions in the shops? And where ALL stand-alone DVD players are sold multi-zone? Region coding thing simply does not work(in addition to being basically illegal and just pushed by lots of money), and therefore forcing me to set some stupid code is not only illegal, it's also sick.

But, of course, I was not asking that.

I was asking - what exactly is setting the code. Is it a some Windows service through which MP is seting the code(which then could be disabled), or is it entirely the media player itself, in which case everybody should be alerted of the illegal operations this player is performing on its own.

Thanks.