The new Playstation 3 game console is rumoured to be region free. There will be no need to hack it, or chip it, or whatever, to make it play imported games. No more artificial markets for games. It will still "respect" DVD movie regions, but that's the MPAA's fault and what $50 DVD players are for. Anyone buying a Playstation to play DVD movies needs their head read.
This isn't proof enough of the aliens. This could easily be explained away by recent rulings in Australia that suggested artificial regioning of games markets was illegal.
BUT! There is more.
The new HiMD Minidisc players being released by Sony are strongly rumoured to allow direct USB 2.0 downloading of pre-HiMD minidiscs, something Minidisc enthusiasts have been SCREAMING for for more than a decade.
I need no further proof than that.
I for one express my gratitude to the new alien overlord of Sony and look forward to more sensible technology directions.
I might even buy a HiMD, much as I was looking to buy a direct to WAV recorder as my MD replacement. The HiMD effectively does the same thing but with removable media. With this last hurdle taken care of I might get one.
Except you need special software (controlled by Sony) to copy the audio off them. I'd prefer the convenience of direct drive mounting and file system copying but you can't have everything.