The role of internet retailers as the counter force in rip-off Britain seems to be coming to an end as manufacturers, led by Sony, are seeking to impose higher prices on the goods that they supply to internet retailers.

Following a report in The Times today, the Office of Fair Trading said it was examining a complaint that manufacturers have been raising wholesale prices for online retailers - leaving them unable to undercut high street prices.

Adopting this sort of pricing policy will hurt online retailers by making them less competitive. It will also damage the growth of the e-commerce sector. This is particularly damaging as the sector is only now beginning to show signs of recovering from the dot.com crash of 2000, helped by increased broadband reach and consumers displaying more confidence about parting with their credit card details over the internet. Companies such as Amazon and eBay are now as well known as Tesco and WH Smith, and the products they sell often cheaper, too.

In the long run, I'd argue that this pricing move will also hurt Sony and their ilk, as it may force their products off the virtual shelves of online retailers. And as more people shop online, our love affair with brands like Sony may disappear into oblivion as we embrace cheaper, generic offerings at reasonable prices from online-only retailers.

Internet retailers are on the whole considerably cheaper than their high street counterparts. The reason is clear: they don't need to have a high street presence or the need for countless spotty, condescending and know-nothing staff. All the e-tailers need is a warehouse and a website and they can then pass on these savings to customers.

However, Sony and others prefer high street retailers because they have a positive impact on their brand. Therefore, they claim, it is justified to offer these retailers a discount on their stock.

While high street retailers do compete on price, in my view there are other more significant factors that influence a consumer's purchase. High street retailers capitalise on the fact that consumers do not have perfect knowledge.

When I go into Dixons, I can't easily find out the price in a shop a mile away, let alone 500 miles away in Scotland. As a consumer, I therefore make a decision based on what's available to me there and then, and I can take advantage of the fact that a product is demonstrated to me.

However, internet retailers operate in a system of perfect knowledge. I can log on to Pricerunner or another shopping search engine and find the price of a particular product across a range of online retailers. There's no discernable difference from purchasing a DVD player from Amazon, play.com or any other website. The key reason for choosing one over another will be the price.

It will therefore be interesting to consider what Sony's approach to online versions of high street retailers will be. For instance, will they be charging JohnLewis.com 15 per cent more for their supplies of Sony's PS3 than they charge to John Lewis? I doubt it.

What we'll probably then see is a reversal of the current results for a search in a price comparison engine, where internet-only stores will be considerably more expensive than the online versions of their high street competitors.

Perhaps, as a counter to this policy, internet retailers should open up one high street store, then they can conform with Sony and other manufacturers' wishes to have their products displayed and their brand promoted. They could locate this one shop anywhere, and they would not need to worry about making any sales there, it will surely be a way around the unfair pricing practices of the electronic giants.

Benjamin Cohen is the CEO of CyberBritain.co.uk