Gameindustry.biz reports that popular online retailer, Lik-Sang, has been forced to shut down after a series of lawsuit losses to Sony. Sony accused Lik-Sang of infringing copyright and trademark laws when they sold Japanese PSPs to European consumers. Sony also claims that there are safety issues for consumers when hardware is sold this way due to differing voltage supplies and standards...
Lik-Sang marketing manager Pascal Clarysse went on to blast Sony for its actions, stating, "Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe?s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don?t see fit."Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader," he continued.
It's definitely a shame since Lik-Sang is one of the more reliable and trusted ways of purchasing gaming hardware before they are officially available many months later here in Australia and New Zealand.
I've never thought i could dispise Sony more than i already do. I will NEVER buy a PS3 or any other sony product ever again. I was previously thinking i would get one later down the track, now sony can go f*ck themselves.
Very unhappy. Im with Wang, I'll do everything I can to avoid buying Sony products from now on. The comments on the Lik-Sang home page pretty much sum up the feeling regarding this. Sony can go and rot in hell for all I care.
Sony was pretty quick to reply on the matter. They say they had nothing to do with Lik-Sang's closure, and accuse them of "sour grapes"...
<a href="http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=20564">http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=20564</a>
they also say that next gen doesn't begin until they say it does, that the suxaxis wasn't a knee jerk reaction to the wii controller, that blu-ray is the future of storage media and that infact they created the universe if 5 days rather than the commonly believed 6
That Sony trying to defuse the mess they have caused, and the anger that has swelled. It is most definitely their fault. The biggest bone of contention was that Sony initiated multiple lawsuits against Lik-Sang in multiple countries at the same time. This made it impossible for Lik-Sang to defend themselves, and hence Sony's comment about "not turning up to court to face the charges".
And all this over activites that Lik-Sang has been performing that *generate sales and revenue* for Sony. Its not like they are stealing their products, rather they are just another retail store selling Sony's products.
This may be some knee-jerk reaction to worries that people from outside of Japan can purchase "cheap" PS3's that were intented for the Japanese market.
Its Sony who should be taken to court for price fixing, and anti-competitive behaviour - and heavily fined, the same way that Nintendo was 4 or so years ago (over a similar type of practice).
But in the end I couldn't care less about any of this - by forcing Lik-Sang to shut down, they have closed the primary source of "alternative" games that can be imported from Japan that would never normally be released outside of Japan (primarily for non-region locked consoles, such as the DS and GBA).
That is why I am actually quite angry about this.
Lik-Sang through their affiliate program also allowed many "indy" websites to generate a small stream of revenue by referring customers to Lik-Sang (such as PlanetGamecube, Penny-Arcade, etc..). The future of some of these websites are in turn, now in doubt.
You people are utterly stupid. You say its all fine for local companies to control and protect their IP, but when Sony does, its bad, horrible and makes you angry. Do you realize how hypocritical you are? Sony as a company has the rights to determine the sales of ITS products. They aren't your products, they are Sony's. They are trying to limit the issues with launches they have had in other territories.
Lik-Sang is essentially a trader, they don't own the products, they make their money from simply buying cheap in one place, and selling higher in another. It is hardly likely that one product has forced them to close up - thats rediculous. Sony has only prevented them from onselling the PS3.. so hardly a problem, if they arent even out yet!!!
This is simply more anti-Sony fuel. Of which I have never seen so much negativety about a company - get a life people, why are you so madly infatuated with finding something bad to write about a company? Get over it already. And especially so if you werent going to even buy a PS3 in any case. All this 'PS3' hating.. and Sony hating.. is so pointless. Especially when so much of it is opinion based.. and not factually based.. utterly fanboy... Im afraid.
AC#6, you are wrong. Try reading the actual articles. Sony has not prevented them from onselling the PS3 - their numerous lawsuits have resulted in Sony being awarded large sums of money payable by Lik-Sang for "IP infringement". This has caused the closure.
Visit the Lik-Sang website if you doubt the facts.
I count 1500 comments in the first 24 hours - I have a feeling this is going to hurt Sony so bad, they are going to wish it never happened.
AC#7 is right. Sony has bullied Lik Sang using their financial muscle, Lik Sang isn't even trading in the EU.
We should try to remember that it is entirely legal for us to import products from overseas (as long as they are not illegal products in Australia). Sony can't stop you from buying a game in Japan or anywhere else, and why should they? If it's a legitimate copy, the owners of the property are still getting paid. Remember why they failed in their Australian mod chip case? Because mod chips allowed imported games to be played, an entirely legal and ethically sound thing for us to do.
I praised Sony for making the PS3 region free, but they have shown their true face. They want the console to be region free, but they don't want you to access games from other regions.....why? Because they can abuse the markets and essentially price fix their products.
F***Sony. If I want to buy an American version of a game because it's cheaper and/or better, I will. That is my right in this global economy.
I probably wasn't going to buy a PS3 at $1000 anyway, but Sony has now removed any remaining temptation to do so.
AC #6, wow you're a dumbass. How dare you insult us for being free thinkers. Sony just reported a 94(percent) drop in revenue year to date, and you think people are bashing this company with arguments that have no merit? I wouldn't be surprised if you work for Sony. Opinion based? Hmm.. ok... stocks going down, REPORTED revenue tanking! Blue ray doesn't even work! News release after news release breaking previous promises. Batteries exploding! Geez man snap out of it! It's time for you to dust off the CV and look for a new job mate! LOL
I would have been happy to purchase a PS3! BACK IN SPRING 2006 WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RELEASED!!!
I am amazed Sony is doing so poorly. If they keep this up, it's going to make a good TV movie! Hey maybe they can cast you as an arrogant jackass Sony exec, probably not far off from reality, so you could pull it off.
Stiff Lik Sang was only just managing to survive in business. Lets all not forget that LS were at one stage the largest supplier of MOD chips world wide. It was not until MS Nintendo and Sony sued the begeezus out of them that they went import only. Pirates must die. Suffer in ye jocks.
If consoles were region free, then mod chipping would be harder to justify. Pirates can get f***ed, companies that price fix and region lock products can also get f***ed.
Mean reason to mod mr lubby is for xbox media centre ;) kicks arse compared to pc media centre and the 360 one :)
Oh and homebrew isn't a bad reason, playing all the old scum games on the psp was fun, screen was ideal, and yes i bought all the old scum games off ebay legit copies.
You fanboys still didn't answer the point of the matter. How come its not ok for Sony to protect its IP.. but is for others? Like MS for instance? You all talk about IP protection for your own game companies.. but its not ok for Sony to protect its hardware IP? Are you being dumb or just hypocritical because you have jumped on the Sony hate bandwagon. Free thinkers eh.. now thats funny... might want to buy a brain to do some thinking.
What has a drop in revenue for Sony have anything to do with anything? Stocks going down? Woop.. whats the deal.. that happens to all sorts of companies all the time. And what has that got to do with the above? Your inability to understand that you either want an IP protected world for you and your game companies, including the hw manufacturers.. or you simply are Sony hating like many other sadly biased internet fox news believers.
Sony are doing poorly.. so what? Thats got nothing to do with what has been said. As usual fanboys love to muddy the discussion with utterly irrelevant info, but that says something bad to make a point. "See X is true.. thus Y must also be true" - idiots.
Nup dont work at Sony.. wouldn't really want to. Trying to point out how sadly ignorant many of you are. For instance.. you relate batteries exploding.. in some relation to PS3? You do realise Sony is not just one company.. don't you.. hahaha man.. and you call me a dumbass!!! hahaha. And because the PS3 is delayed you wont buy it now.. HAHAHAHAHA.. now thats even funnier. What an excuse.. "I couldnt have it in March so now I dont want it!!!". Sound like a spoilt little brat.
Not sure where I was being arrogant.. please point it out - I think the problem is that you have been ignorant. And not bothered following what was said. As a Sony hater.. I hope you have a nice life wasting your time hating something thats not really tangible.. a company. You will get boundless hours of useful things done... whats the bet you are a N fanboy.. Id almost guarantee it.
AC #13 I think the point that people are trying to make is that they don't believe that Lik-Sang's business practices were detrimental to Sony's IP. From what I understand, the Sony suits are all about Lik-Sang offerring hardware to be sold outside of Sony's defined territories (ie a Japanese set PS2 for sale in the UK).
While I can see Lik-Sang selling modchips as being arguable detrimental to the IP, they've already been sued for that and have since moved out of that business area. That they've been driven out of business entirely for costing Sony money by on-selling hardware is a bit of a joke (if you are to believe Lik-Sang's press releases) as Sony still gets a piece of the pie (just SCEJ not SCEE), and is a sad day for all of us who've used Lik-Sang to import software too... or even just a USB PC/PS2 Controller adaptor ;)
I didnt know that protecting ip meant total and absolute control on the distribution model of your product. Why are you comparing that to game developer I.P when it has nothing to do with where or how how developers want to distribute their games. Game developers want to CREATE I.P to reap more from the profit pie doing nothing more than creating original content. Sony in this case wants to reap more from the profit pie by limiting markets and controlling prices. The two cases have nothing in common and its absurd to keep comparing the two.
Its all about Sony litigating a company out of existence because it messes with maximizing their distribution model. Someone needs to tell Sony that its not the 1800's anymore and that theres this thing called the global market. How messed up things would be for consumers if every other company followed suit and took others to court for exactly the same reason. You can name call everyone who dislikes this situation a fanboy all you want, but thats your perogotive.
so i guess sony is going to sue ebay now for allowing the trade of ip outside defined territories ;) in my opinion, they could have resolved the issue with lik-sang without the need for law suits and ultimately closure of the business. sounds like plain bullying to me
Actually Ebay aren't allowing sales of PS3s