Excerpt from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/bu...ia/15sony.html

The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only
give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in
its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
discs.

The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them.
Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major
electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the new
technological standard.

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