The European Commission has stepped up its probe into possible anticompetitive practices in the format war over high-definition DVDs that pits Sony's Blu-ray against Toshiba's HD DVD.

The Commission is concerned that licensing strategies of the backers of either the hi-def formats may involve exclusive deals pointing to anticompetitive activity in the industry.

One year ago, the Commission began looking for evidence of a possible infringement of EU antitrust regulations on its own initiative as there have been no complaints from companies in the sector.

Last month, the European Commission sent out letters to movie studios demanding evidence of their communications and agreements on the new generation of DVD formats. It is reported to be particularly interested in the activities of the Blu-ray group because of its dominance in Hollywood.

Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for the Commission, confirmed that it had sent letters to the studios in mid-June trying to establish whether they have restrictive agreements to use one or the other of the standards.

The HD DVD camp is reported to have been lobbying the Commission to draw attention to Blu-ray's tactics in a bid to force more studios to put their titles on HD DVD, according to the Wall Street Journal. Statements made by some Hollywood executives during the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas about the exclusivity of studios to Blu-ray raised the European Commission's concern.

Story filed 03.07.07