Washington, D.C.
(April 24, 2007) --
The High-Definition DVD format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD
was totally unnecessary.
So says Warren Lieberfarb, former president of Warner Home Video, in an interview with Variety magazine.
Blu-ray and HD DVD were launched as separate high-def DVD formats last year, which has led to consumer confusion and disappointing sales.
So says Warren Lieberfarb, former president of Warner Home Video, in an interview with Variety magazine.
Blu-ray and HD DVD were launched as separate high-def DVD formats last year, which has led to consumer confusion and disappointing sales.
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Lieberfarb accuses film studios and CE companies backing Blu-ray of forming a "cartel" back in 2002 in an attempt to ensure that its favored format would become the industry standard.
Four of the eight major studios are backing Blu-ray exclusively and Sony, Panasonic and Philips are only manufacturing Blu-ray players.
"It was clear to me that a cartel-like consortium was being created for the purpose of forcing a de facto standard on other manufacturers," Lieberfarb tells Variety.
Consequently, he says, Blu-ray's supporters were never seriously interested in negotiating with HD DVD's backers on a compromise for a single format.
At one point, he tells Variety, he asked Time Warner's legal team to investigate the anti-trust implications of the Blu-ray effort. He believed that the Justice Department should investigate. But apparently Time Warner's legal counselors nixed the idea and Lieberfarb was later fired for unrelated reasons.
He's now a consultant to HD DVD backers Microsoft and Toshiba, but he doesn't spare Blu-ray's rival in his criticism.
Lieberfarb says that HD DVD might now hold the dominant hand if its supporters hadn't wasted so much time developing anti-copying software. If it had focused instead on being the first to market, the former Warner exec says HD DVD could have had a big head start over Blu-ray.
As it turned out, HD DVD was released in April 2006 and Blu-ray was released just a few months later.
Andy Parsons, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, tells Variety that Lieberfarb's remark about a "cartel" is off-base.
"Cartel suggests that there's this combative exclusivity involved," says Parsons.
Click TVPredictions.com to see today's Swanni Sez.
© TVPredictions.com
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Lieberfarb accuses film studios and CE companies backing Blu-ray of forming a "cartel" back in 2002 in an attempt to ensure that its favored format would become the industry standard.
Four of the eight major studios are backing Blu-ray exclusively and Sony, Panasonic and Philips are only manufacturing Blu-ray players.
"It was clear to me that a cartel-like consortium was being created for the purpose of forcing a de facto standard on other manufacturers," Lieberfarb tells Variety.
Consequently, he says, Blu-ray's supporters were never seriously interested in negotiating with HD DVD's backers on a compromise for a single format.
At one point, he tells Variety, he asked Time Warner's legal team to investigate the anti-trust implications of the Blu-ray effort. He believed that the Justice Department should investigate. But apparently Time Warner's legal counselors nixed the idea and Lieberfarb was later fired for unrelated reasons.
He's now a consultant to HD DVD backers Microsoft and Toshiba, but he doesn't spare Blu-ray's rival in his criticism.
Lieberfarb says that HD DVD might now hold the dominant hand if its supporters hadn't wasted so much time developing anti-copying software. If it had focused instead on being the first to market, the former Warner exec says HD DVD could have had a big head start over Blu-ray.
As it turned out, HD DVD was released in April 2006 and Blu-ray was released just a few months later.
Andy Parsons, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, tells Variety that Lieberfarb's remark about a "cartel" is off-base.
"Cartel suggests that there's this combative exclusivity involved," says Parsons.
Click TVPredictions.com to see today's Swanni Sez.
© TVPredictions.com
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Phillip Swann is
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