Actually, I believe region coding has more to do with marketing territories than anything else. But the solution for desktop players is to get one that is region free as mentioned. The problem is going to be to find one that replaces the built-in Jensen.
Another solution may be to play them on your computer or notebook using something like the free VLC player, which will play all regions and both NTSC/PAL. Either connect directly to your LCD(?), HDMI would be the easiest, or use one of the available wireless streaming solutions.