'It was the adult industry who jumped right in and were putting movies on both VHS and Beta. We pushed the actual technology more than anyone else,' he said. 'The adult industry has always been ahead when comes to technology.'

But not everyone believes the format war will be determined by the porn industry. Steve Duplessie, founder of research firm Enterprise Strategy Group, in Milford, Mass., and a Computerworld columnist, said the porn industry's influence over the fate of VHS and the upcoming high-def DVD formats is overstated. Duplessie said VHS ultimately won over Betamax because Betamax was a proprietary format owned by Sony, while VHS was more open.

'I love the whole pornography concept simply because porn is still the number one money-making use of the Internet. But I don't believe the porn industry will drive the format. Like any other industry, it will supply what the consumer wants,' he said.