Regional lockout

Regional lockout is the programming practice, code, or chip used to prevent the playing of media designed for a device from the country where it is marketed on the version of the same device marketed in another country. It originated in the video game industry and, with the advent of DVD, was adopted by the motion picture industry. Nintendo is the originator of regional lockout. Critics argue that regional lockout promotes game piracy and modding by adding incentives in the form of new things one can play if one cracks the lockout. Some critics consider it a form of copyright misuse. Region free, especially in DVD players, means that the device does not conduct regional lockout and has no modification chip. That term has not yet applied to video game consoles.

See Also: console converter, fan translation, fritz-chip, copyright misuse