EU looks at rival DVD format creators

Developers of the two rival high-definition DVD formats — Toshiba's HD DVD and Sony's Blu-ray Disc — are being reviewed by antitrust officials from the European to see if their respective licensing terms violate European Union competition rules.

Under EU rules, the makers of the DVD formats can license their products to both hardware manufacturers wanting to make new DVD players and DVD producers themselves. The Commission declined to say whether it was looking into a specific category of licenses or all, Reuters reported.