Sony Computer Entertainment Australia believes that the PlayStation 3's support for HDTV could well mean that the upcoming console should be region-free:

"...Sony Computer Entertainment Australia managing director, Michael Ephraim, said the company was unlikely to continue the policy [of region coding games] as international television standards emerge.

'If you look at the fact that it will support high-definition TV, which will be a global standard, there's a good likelihood that it will be global region, as for example we've done with the PSP (PlayStation Portable),' Mr Ephraim said."

If true, the PS3 will be following in the footsteps of the handheld PlayStation Portable, which was the first SCE console to drop region encoding... for games.  Movies on UMD are still locked out by territory, for the usual international film industry reasons.  So while Ephraim points to HDTV being a global standard as a possible catalyst for a region-free PS3, in truth it does not seem likely that movie playback will greatly benefit from this.  That said, it would be great for games which is probably more than enough for most gamers.  We'll have to see just who over at Sony will have the last word regarding this before we get too excited, of course.