Oh crap.

The Blu-Ray Disc Association has reportedly decided to adopt region codes for the forthcoming High Definition movie releases, while the rival HD DVD camp has not yet come up with a final decision on the same issue.

Citing latest talks among the AACS LA members (Advanced Access Content System) that belong to the Blu-ray Disc Association, the Japanese publication IT media reports that the Blu-Ray camp has proposed to adopt regional coding for the HD movies stored on BD-ROM media. “Region 1″ would cover North and South America, and East Asia excluding China. Europe and Africa would cover “Region 2,” and China, Russia, and other countries would constitute “Region 3.” On the other hand, the HD DVD camp may not be used in HD DVD.

According to the same report, Warner Bros. representatives supported the abolishment of any region codes, claiming that they have been proven ineffective in the past. However, some AACS LA members were seeing a possible scenario where East Asian pirate videos could flow into European and North American markets, since they would be regionally compatible.

I’ve been a supporter of Blu-ray, and this won’t change my mind, but I’m not a happy boy.

CDRInfo - Blu-Ray Proposes Region Codes For Future HD Titles