This could be the deciding factor in the next generation DVD format war – what is Sony thinking? According to Digital Playground (an adult film production company) Sony is blocking the production of pornography on its Blu-ray format.

This is exactly how Sony lost the last great video format war between Beta and VHS. Regardless of how you feel about pornography, it’s critical for the success of a video format. The founder of Digital Playgrounds was interviewed at the 2007 AVN awards in Las Vegas and said he is now forced to use HD DVD. Digital Playgrounds said no Blu-ray disc manufacturer would make his company's discs because Sony threatened to take away the license of any manufacturer making Blu-ray porn. Sony’s moral high ground could cost it the war in the end.

There is a longstanding truism that many technologies are stimulated by porn. If it holds true in the next generation DVD formats, we might have just nailed our winner – HD DVD. Rendering porn impotent on Blu-ray will only ensure further penetration of HD DVD. But Sony should know better! Going limp on porn is exactly what lost Sony the Beta / VHS format war. After Beta banned porn, far more interest was aroused in the VHS format back in the early 80s.