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Almost right Andi, and to elaborate Pixel's answer it works like this.
Some companies don't own the distribution rights to their own films for different countries. For example, here in Australia MGM use a company called United International Pictures (UIP) (who I believe are owned by Paramount) to distribute their films like, say, the James Bond franchise.
Then, what happens when someone buys a Region 4 DVD of James Bond in Australia a chunk of money goes to the store owner, the distribution company (UIP), and then to the studio or production company who made the fucker (MGM and Brocolli Productions).
Now, if I was import a region 1 release of a James Bond film then the money would go to the store owner, and then probably MGM, and then some more to MGM and Brocolli Productions....see the problem now? UIP in Australia is missing out on a sale.
Why would I want to import a region 1 disc you may ask? For many reasons, 1) It may be out before it's released in theatres here in Australia or I may just want it on DVD earlier (sometimes, it takes a while for them to do the PAL transfer and then get the fuckin' dvd actually made in every other region) 2) The Distribution Companies look after the manufacturing of the regional DVDs, so that means content can often be different between the PAL and NTSC versions....
Personally, I'm over importing. I'd much rather the extra resolution that PAL gives us.
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