European regulators are investigating anti competitive practices in the high-definition disc format war. The European Commission has sent letters to Hollywood's studios demanding evidence of their communications and agreements on next generation formats.
The commission is apparently most interested in the activities of Blu-ray because of its dominant support from Hollywood studios. It is investigating whether improper tactics were used to curb competition and convince other studios to back the Blu-ray format.
Jonathan Todd, spokesman for the European Commission, confirmed that letters had been sent to the studios in mid-June to try and establish whether there are restrictive agreements to use one format over the other.
Blu-ray is supported by every major film studio except Universal, which is the only studio that exclusively supports HD-DVD. Apparently, the HD DVD group has been lobbying the commission to draw attention to Blu-ray's tactics in a bid to force more studios to support their format.
The European Commission conducted a broad enquiry into the competing formats a year ago when letters were sent to both camps requesting information on their licensing practices. However, the commission's recent investigation has focused its attention on the film studios – and Blu-ray specifically.
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