Both my M3 simply and R4 DS are the cheaper models, without the IC just has a blob of goo over the microchip like the inside of a $1 chinese watch. Very poor imho.
Same with my R4, but I still was able to mod it anyway
As much as I dislike and am opposed to language/region locking the different language versions I actually
do understand why they tried to do it this way. Basically it amounts to what they said: "protecting their retailers"; stopping any form of price competition between different region distributors that they have "official" agreements with. If I see something new listed as in stock a HK mail order shop for $5 less than the place I can get it from in NA as pre-order, the impulse would be to purchase it there - and be I'll be damned if, by the time I cover shipping, I didn't actually get it for any less (sometimes more) and in about the same time I would have gotten it from the NA distributors.