# I have a DVD from the UK. Is there a legal way I can watch it on my DVD player here in Canada? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755 "2011-05-22T04:23:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755/21 "2011-05-22T07:58:05Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > A couple of questions of law. > > First, is the DVD zone licencing scheme a restraint of trade? > > Second, I realize that DVD zone licencing applies to manufacture and sales of DVD players, but does it also apply to the end users of the DVD players? When a person purchases a DVD player, is there anything in the contract that precludes that person from fiddling with the player, its firmware or its software, so as to be able to use it to play DVDs from a different zone? Similarly, is there anything in the end-user’s contract that prohibits that person from carrying his or her own DVD player into another zone and using it there to play DVDs from the first zone? > **[DVD region code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code)** > > DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to the appropriate region. > This is achieved by way of region-locked DVD players, which will play back only DVDs encoded to their region (plus those without any region code). The American DVD Copy Control Association also requires that DVD player manufacturers ... ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755/22 "2011-05-22T09:47:40Z")
I’ve used North American DVDs on my laptop without having to re-region the DVD drive, but I’m on linux which may work differently. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755/23 "2011-05-22T11:06:04Z")
Your DVD player and TV will probably also need to be capable of displaying 576i video (or “PAL”, to use the common, albeit incorrect, term - the disc or the packaging may have “PAL” written on them somewhere). If not, you should still be able to watch the DVD on a computer. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755/24 "2011-05-22T11:47:15Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > AC1116, AC1118 and AC1128 are flights from Regina to Toronto that have connections to London, England. 😃 Fantastic. I love the way that those three flight numbers are the first three that appear when you do [this search](http://res.aircanada.com/TimeTableServlet/retrieveTimeTableRequest?org=YQR&dest=YYZ&language=english&year=2011&month=06&day=15). (That link will expire mid-June) The equipment is the 93 seat Embraer 190. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755/25 "2011-05-22T14:07:36Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > AC1116, AC1118 and AC1128 are flights from Regina to Toronto that have connections to London, England. 😃 Isn’t the idea around here that you wait for the serious answers before joking around? (As opposed to putting a nonsensical joke in the _second post_ of the thread.) ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755/26 "2011-05-22T14:37:20Z")
See if you can find you player [here](http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks)and follow the instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755/27 "2011-05-22T14:45:20Z")
I think the OP said that he uses a stand-alone Blu-Ray player. I don’t know if it’s possible to make a Blu-Ray player region-free. I bought a stand-alone Philips DVD player from Target for about forty dollars, because that brand seems to be particularly easy to unlock (using websites such as ones previously suggested). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-dvd-from-the-uk-is-there-a-legal-way-i-can-watch-it-on-my-dvd-player-here-in-canada/582755.md?page=1)