Nice post! I agree whole heartedly with the region coding debacle as the UK is always shafted when it comes to release dates and pricing. It's not just a Ninty thing, all manufacturers treat us as second class (don't get me started on Sony) because we are a relatively small market and for some reason we are quite willing to cave in and pay the increased prices and wait patiently for the latest releases.
Whilst I applaude this release and the motives behind it, my worry is that this freeloader is going to pave the way for more aggressive software solutions that will allow piracy and code manipulation. In my opinion the worst thing that ever happened to the PS2 was Action Replay (Codejunkies btw) and other 'experience enhancing' stuff like Gameshark. It would be a disaster if such software was released for the Wii because the last thing we need is someone in MOH2 online with infinite bazookas, rapid fire snipers and unlimited health. I can just imagine the threads now......
In summary:
region coding = bad
cheating = naughty
piracy =
very naughty (software piracy that is, not
Piracy)