I beg to differ. I would like to be able to play R2 DVDs. There are lots of anime that may never come out in R1 (Nausicaa), and good asian movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon came out in DVDs months before Region 1 and has english subtitles.
But the most troubling is for North American francophones. We are being denied access to the library of excellent French movies and french translations of foreign movies: La Vita E Bella (Life is Beautiful) Region 1 DVD did not include a french track, unlike the R2 DVD, the VHS french copy was rental pricing ($80). I have seen the french version at the movies and I liked it much better than the english track which was dubbed with a phony italian-english accent.