Europe Officials Probe Marketing Of DVD Formats REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
July 28, 2006; Page A10 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115404038964819704.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news BRUSSELS -- European Commission antitrust officials are investigating the licensing strategies of two rival new-generation DVD developers: HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The commission "sent a letter earlier this month to the makers of HD-DVD and Blu-ray to request information about licensing," a commission spokesman said. HD-DVD was created by Toshiba Corp., while Blu-ray Disc was developed by a Sony Corp.-led consortium that includes Philips Electronics NV, Samsung Electronics Co. and Sharp Corp. The two products will be battling for a share in the lucrative audio-visual market, providing the companies can persuade consumers that they should upgrade from their current DVD standard. The commission wouldn't identify the companies nor say to how many it sent the request for information, but Sony confirmed it had received inquiries. Sony said it was cooperating with the commission. "There are no indications of any complaint, nor of any antitrust concerns on the part of the commission or anyone else," the company said. The commission wants to know whether the licensing terms of the DVD formats could break European Union competition rules, but it said this wasn't the start of a formal investigation. Once the EU's top antitrust authority receives more information from the companies concerned, it could decide to either open a formal investigation or drop the case. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
