Q: When traveling I enjoy watching DVD films on my laptop. But the DVDs
I've rented in Europe won't play on it. Do any laptop manufacturers
allow playback of DVDs from any region?

A: As far as I know, every laptop sold in the United States includes DVD
software that enforces "region codes" and accepts only discs from the
United States and Canada.

The workaround is to install unlicensed playback software that, since
it was developed without help or permission from the owners of the DVD
format, ignores region codes and other usage restrictions. Try VLC, a
free download for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and other operating systems
at http://www.videolan.org; other choices are listed at
http://www.digital-digest.com.

Major movie studios aren't fans of the software. The studios like
region-coding restrictions; by making a DVD sold in one of eight
defined markets viewable only on hardware sold there, they allow
studios to release movies at different timetables around the world.

DVD watchers overseas have chosen to buy "multi-region" players when
available -- they routinely dominate the list of top-selling DVD
players on Amazon's British store, for instance.

I am getting lots of e-mails offering me the opportunity to buy
software, especially Microsoft's, incredibly cheaply. I assume these
offers are illegal, but what else is wrong with them, if anything?

The other problem with those offers is that they're spam -- that alone
makes the people behind them unworthy of your business. Don't reward
these slimeballs with your money. Ever.

Mail filtering and other technological measures can help stop spam, but
ultimately this is an economic problem -- spammers make the effort to
send bulk e-mail because at least some people are dumb or foolish
enough to respond to it. Otherwise, they'd find some other way of being
a nuisance.

-- Rob Pegoraro

Rob Pegoraro attempts to untangle computing conundrums and errant
electronics each week. Send questions to The Washington Post, 1150 15th
St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or rob@twp.com.
http://www.washingtonpost.com