You know, when the whole Betamax/VHS thing was going on, our society was much less litigious. I wonder if some lawyer somewhere will file a class action lawsuit against Toshiba once this house of cards collapses.
And frankly, I see a legitimate claim here. One could argue that Toshiba knowingly sold an inferior product with the express intent of maintaining their old line royalties associated with DVD. For that matter, I could see M$ brought in as co-defendant on this as they've been complicit in every phase, trying to deny Blu-ray from becoming the new standard such that their business line, digital downloads, could take hold.
The fact that they did so with bribes and other nefarious means (paid shills on the internet, buying web sites like AVS, etc.) will all be points in the lawsuit. I think it's possible. The truth is consumers have wasted billions of dollars on a product that had a lifespan of less than 3 years. Some were tricked into a purchase only a few months ago so Toshiba could unload inventory. At least that's how I'd play it if I were leading the case against them.
I think the studios are really off the hook on this as they've simply played the game from the software side. They can make the claim that they did nothing but provide a license to view their films on a then viable piece of hardware. Then again, if I were really looking for deep pockets, the lawsuit could look at things like the bribe paid to Para*****. If I were on a jury I think I could be convinced that they ought to be required to use those funds to provide relief to the customers they harmed.
In order to avoid this, one thing Toshiba may announce along with their concession next week, would be some sort of buyback or trade-in program for those customers who purchased a DUD in the last 3 months. The writing was clearly on the wall by then. That said, I doubt even this would prevent some hungry lawyer out there from filing.
no. but i wouldn't be surprised if some pimply faced red ant ginger kid decides he wants to sue them. he'll probably put up a petition first and then try to get someone to get a class action suit going. if someone does sue Toshiba, someone should sue M$it for ending Xbox 1 support so fast...
So someone invests in a technology that does not have full support of the industry. Not only do they not have full support, but the support is split with a rival format (with greater support). Subsequently, and predictably, this technology goes under
Some greedy @$$ lawyer would probably try, but no court will take this seriously. All the stuff we complained about (payoffs, price slashing) can be used as proof they did everything they could to make their format viable. It's the same reason the press releases are so antisceptic... CYA
So someone invests in a technology that does not have full support of the industry. Not only do they not have full support, but the support is split with a rival format (with greater support). Subsequently, and predictably, this technology goes under
Some greedy @$$ lawyer would probably try, but no court will take this seriously. All the stuff we complained about (payoffs, price slashing) can be used as proof they did everything they could to make their format viable. It's the same reason the press releases are so antisceptic... CYA
that reminds me of this...
Quote:
To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to make a formal request that you investigate possible anti-competition violations in a recent move by Warner Brothers to drop the HD DVD movie disc format in favor of exclusive support of it's main competitor, the Bluray disc format - which is rumored to have been rewarded by a $500 Million incentive from the Bluray Disc Association..
The reason for my request are as follows:
1) There are rumors that Warner was given incentives of between $500 Million, $620 Million, or even higher in exchange for their decision to abandon HD DVD. Fox is also rumored to have been rewarded. Before the move, about 50% of studio content was available on the HD DVD format. But Warner's decision reduces this greatly as they are the largest studio.
1-b) Although one report states that a Warner official denied the rumor, there is no direct quote of the denial, and other coverage of the executive's statements make note of the absence of any direct denials, including the NY Times, which noted he actually declined to deny them. Even the Sony chairman avoided a denial of the rumors of the payoff.
2) This money is rumored to have been paid to Warner by the Bluray Disc Association, the organizing body of the Bluray disc, which is the direct competitor to the HD DVD format which was dropped.
3) The move has been widely interpreted by the industry as an attempt to deal a "death blow" to the HD DVD format and eliminate the competitor. According to various observers it has been an attempt at a mortal blow that is designed to be the beginning of the end for the HD DVD format, if allowed to stand.
4) The move effectively means that Warner customers looking to buy Hi Definition optical media will only be able to do so on Bluray disc after May 2008.
5) The move means that almost 1 Million existing customers on HD DVD will no longer be able to get Warner or New Line movies on HD DVD after May 2008.
6) HD DVD dedicated players, drives bought for the sole purpose of playing movies, have been variously selling at entry prices of $99, $129 and $199. These have been far more affordable than Bluray players, which have sold for closer to $300 at the low-end due to the "discounting" obsolete "initial profile" players. If HD DVD is eliminated, the HD consumer may be forced to pay higher prices for up to date BD players.
7) As of late 2007, HD DVD dedicated players, bought specifically for the purpose of playing movies, had been estimated to have sold about 900,000 units (including 296,000 "add-on" dedicated players), compared to 350,000 equivalent units by Bluray. I do not include Playstation 3 game consoles, as these are said to have been mostly purchased primarily to play games, not movies.
7.b) The Same estimates put HD DVD standalones in Europe at 150,000 units, compared with 50,000 Bluray standalones.
8) It is said by insiders that the Bluray disc format has far less disc manufacturing capacity than the HD DVD disc format, which could mean that either less discs would be available to consumers if Bluray were the only format, and/or that the disc manufacturing constraints could possibly cause the Bluray companies to maintain higher pricing on Bluray players for the foreseeable future until they have installed more replication capacity.
9) The Bluray format is a proprietary disc format invented and mostly controlled (through the BDA) by Sony Corp. Sony also controls various studios under the Sony Pictures umbrella, such as Columbia Tristar, and also controls 20% of the MGM Studios company. I am concerned that if HD DVD were to be killed off by the Warner decision, Sony may have an unfair advantage. I am also concerned about these rumors as I fear it may indicate that Sony and the BDA may have exercised an unfair advantage in eliminating HD DVD from the marketplace.
10) I am a consumer who would be harmed by the event. I believe that there are almost a million buyers of HD DVD players. We may likely be forced to purchase more expensive Bluray players were HD DVD eliminated. Otherwise, we would no longer be able to get content from Warner on HD DVD - or possible any studios at all if HD DVD were to be eliminated by this action, rendering our purchase of little value.
11) I also believe that were HD DVD to be eliminated, many, many, millions of consumers may have less choice and would likely pay higher prices for HD players in the future.
I ask that you investigate these rumors that Warner and Fox were paid "incentives" in consideration for their decisions against HD DVD, and for the very damaging timing of Warner's public statement on the matter 2 days before an important press conference they were to attend jointly with HD DVD.
Yours sincerely,
________________ (name, date)
lol, i wonder if the justice department will take this letter seriously? stupid HD DVD fans.
lol, i wonder if the justice department will take this letter seriously? stupid HD DVD fans.
That's the funniest thing I've read in awhile. Where'd you find that? Man I wish the justice department would investigate all unsubstantiated rumours.
"I heard this happened, and although I have no connections in the industry and there has been no substantiation (please don't look and see the side I support recently did this as well), I think it your duty to investigate this AND rule in my favor"
That's the funniest thing I've read in awhile. Where'd you find that? Man I wish the justice department would investigate all unsubstantiated rumours.
"I heard this happened, and although I have no connections in the industry and there has been no substantiation (please don't look and see the side I support recently did this as well), I think it your duty to investigate this AND rule in my favor"
if all the retards on the net were gathered together under one domain name, it would be there. the guy who wrote that comes across like a whiny little school girl who's barbie doll got run over.
no. but i wouldn't be surprised if some pimply faced red ant ginger kid decides he wants to sue them. he'll probably put up a petition first and then try to get someone to get a class action suit going. if someone does sue Toshiba, someone should sue M$it for ending Xbox 1 support so fast...
a petition to continue hd-dvd support by toshiba has been started....there is also one for universial and paramount to stay hd-dvd exclusive (seen them over the amazon hd-dvd forums and hdd).....they have also started emails and calls to toshiba to stick it out and continue to fight....think one hd-dvder said toshiba should watch some John Wayne movies (like the almo) to get inspired.....
I think the loyalist (ie diehards that mention that downloads are the future) to hd-dvd will not sue just go on there merry way....I think they are just to loyal to microsoft or toshiba or just hate sony that much...like they say they will either stick with sd-dvd, go to downloads, or pirate movies now....as for the others that did not know what was going on or what have you.....guess we will see.....
I don't think any lawsuits would be made against them. They made a competing product is all and they didn't win. I don't believe there were any lawsuits against the companies behind SACD/DVD Audio or Betamax/VHS or DVD/Divx, therefore there won't be any now.
One could argue that Toshiba knowingly sold an inferior product with the express intent of maintaining their old line royalties associated with DVD.
That's probably not illegal in itself.
Quote:
The fact that they did so with bribes and other nefarious means (paid shills on the internet, buying web sites like AVS, etc.) will all be points in the lawsuit. I think it's possible. The truth is consumers have wasted billions of dollars on a product that had a lifespan of less than 3 years. Some were tricked into a purchase only a few months ago so Toshiba could unload inventory. At least that's how I'd play it if I were leading the case against them.
If it could be demonstrated that the company contracted with some persons to promote the product on the internet and specifically instructed them to make claims that turned out to be false, that might constitute fraud, or fall foul of some consumer protection regulations e.g. governing truth-in-advertising. Proving this would be difficult. Even if it could be shown that these shills received cheques from Toshiba, the defence would be, "We told them to cry up HD DVD; we didn't tell them to say _that_!"
All countries
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Will Toshiba be sued?
Screw lawsuits.
I don't think any lawsuits would be made against them. They made a competing product is all and they didn't win. I don't believe there were any lawsuits against the companies behind SACD/DVD Audio or Betamax/VHS or DVD/Divx, therefore there won't be any now.
Hybrid Mode
