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Lik-Sang.com Taken to Court By Sony
Joe writes "As published on Lik-Sang's Website Sony has taken legal actions against Hong Kong's largest exporter of videogames and videogaming gear. One month before the official european launch and 9 months after the initial release of the PSP, this action looks very late at first sight. Since it's highly doubtful that Sony can permit the resale of the japanese PSP consoles in Hong Kong no matter if on the local market or for export, it looks like this is planned to be one of the not the bright marketing ideas of the Sony HQ. The japanese PSP has the same Region Code for UMDs as the ones which will be sold in europe in september. Since the shipping at Lik-Sang is free, the console is even cheaper to import than to buy it locally."
I'd comment but I need to go buy a PSP now
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
Sony has taken legal actions against Hong Kong's largest exporter of videogames and videogaming gear
This guy?
Those region codes are SO convenient for consumers. I just LOVE travelling abroad and not being able to watch my dvds. I shouldn't be suprised that SONY would think to do this with UMD too. bah.
Jerry
http://www.cyvin.org/
Keep doing this, sony and you will be publicly humiliated (again) and fewer people will buy your stuff. Hell, even Microsoft isn't that evil. Try to control the market in such an evil way, and it will always come back and bite you in the ass.
In summary: If Sony was an icecream flavor, they'd be pralines and dick.
Will wank off Linus Torvalds for fame.
Since it's highly doubtful that Sony can permit the resale of the japanese PSP consoles in Hong Kong no matter if on the local market or for export, it looks like this is planned to be one of the not the bright marketing ideas of the Sony HQ.
Sorry, I don't mean to be the grammar-police on Monday morning, but that's just plain terrible.
I'll translate:
Since it's highly doubtful that Sony can permit the resale of the Japanese PSP consoles in Hong Kong (whether or not they are available for export), this seems to be a rather poor marketing idea coming from Sony's headquarters.
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
It's not blocking the huge Lik-Sang advert on the front page of slashdot.
Is there a setting I missed?
motherfucker, do you speak it?
(apparently not)
Nonsense lawsuits are only shown to be nonsense lawsuits after lots and lots of money is spent.
I have no idea how big Lik-Sang is, I just bought a GBA transfer cable from them awhile back once. For legitimate purposes, honest!
IANAL but to me it seems like region codes are an obstruction of free trade. Why wouldn't any judicial or legislative body speak out against this?
I couldn't decipher the summary properly until I read the parent's post
There is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. -- Boondock Saints
Lik-Sang has been a constant target for legal issues in the past. I remember a couple of years ago they were selling lots of mod chips and other "hacks" for systems until Nintendo (I believe) put an end to that. I doubt this is the last time we'll read about a Lik-Sang lawsuit in the near future.
Finance tutorials and more! Understandfinance
Since the shipping at Lik-Sang is free, the console is even cheaper to import than to buy it locally.
It is not cheaper to import to the UK. While the price at Lik-Sang for a PSP minus shipping is cheaper than what the UK PSP price will be, you will always get charged import tax plus. Customs seem to know Lik-Sang and they always slap on the import tax. Plus the courier e.g. UPS, DHL et al always put a surcharge on top of the tax because they pay the tax for you at customes and then demand a cheque when they arrive at your door.
So overall it comes out to be more expensive to import by about £20 or so. Still, if importing annoys Sony then I'm all for it, since I don't see why they should be allowed to dictate who can and cannot sell PSPs, it's just a monopoly.
"Since the shipping at Lik-Sang is free, the console is even cheaper to import than to buy it locally."
By the time you've added the UPS Handling Fees, VAT and import duty, it is NOT cheaper.
I thought companies want a global market and are pressing the G7/8 (depends on how you count) to help them in that. But when the market acts back in a global way by protesting against region codings, delayed movie releases (thus watching the copies from the internet), the same companies protest by using their legal means and shear size.
In short: Sony, stop acting like a little kid, just be global, dump region codings, dump price strategies and just sell you products for a fair price all over the globe.
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
"Since it's highly doubtful that Sony can prohibit the resale of the japanese PSP consoles in Hong Kong no matter if on the local market or for export,"
It is true, the sales themselves cannot be stopped. However, as UK importers have learned recently to their chagrin, you selling them can be stopped. All Sony has to do is claim that you are using their trademark on the term "PSP" without their permission, and you'll be forced to sell "popular black handheld video game unit from a major manufacturer of electronic devices," something that just doesn't get many hits in a search engine.
Sony is being greedy over a few dollars. This company is buying and selling mass amounts of usits. Sony should be happy they are getting there wholesale rate, im sure it doesnt change that much from country to country, its all relative. The whole point of internet commerce is having the ability to find competitive prices and order from anywhere in the world.
See, companies like Sony complain about people importing their products, but if they'd just bring their products to us quicker, this wouldn't happen. Can someone give me one good reason they couldn't launch the PSP in Europe at the same time they launched it in America? If companies can make it more of a priority to bring products to overseas markets quicker, or at all in many cases, than they are going to have to deal with the reality of importing as a consumer solution. For the record, I totally back Lik-Sang.com. They're where I import my Gamecube games from. Awesome site. Down with Sony!
Couldn't careless what Sony say. I just bought a DS and it truely deserves to be called innovative. Keep your PSPs and whatever else. When you have a game as fun as Zoo Keeper is then maybe I'll look.
Untill then go back to pulling tricks like this and even the Sony fanboys will hate you
I like muppets.
Regarding regions and when it will be released here in Europe, I don't see the trouble for Lik-Sang. Sonys own fault...
Lik-Sang FTW.
Not so portable any more, is it?
It's charmingly naive to believe that juidicial or legislative bodies are concerned with free trade. Mainly, they represent power interests and as such the laws created by and for those interests. "Free trade" comes onto the agenda when there is an advantage to be gained: mainly, in access to a market otherwise protected by anti-import legislation.
As another poster in this thread pointed out, free trade is rarely done out of principle, not even by institutions such as the WTO that claim this as their reason for existence.
Thus, the USA can subsidise its own cotton farmers to the point where countries like Niger cannot sell their cotton on the world market for a fair price. That's ok. But when Airbus get cheap loans from governments, that's not ok.
"Free trade" is excellent in theory and nice when it actually happens, but don't imagine it's the top priority for many people except economists.
Your games are region-protected because as a consumer, you don't actually have any rights except to spend / not spend your money. If you don't like companies that rip you off, don't buy their products.
My blog
I feel no sympathy for any company that creates artifical scarcity using anything similar to region-codes.
Leave it to them to decide not to bring a game to the US and then complain whenever people from the US import it from Japan or Europe, saying that we're making them lose money.
We're buying their product. At a higher price than normal. And WE get bitched at?! Why should I have to wait a year or more for a game if I can read Japanese and want to play it when it comes out in Japan?
Why should I have to import a DVD player if I move to Japan or Europe? Oh, I know. So that they can make more money by locking out entire continents.
In retrospect, I still have no sympathy. And I'm actually surprised that the US doesn't have 5 region codes.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Don't buy it. Show Sony that they're doing the wrong thing when suing right and left when people try to give them money. Tell them with the only thing they understand: money. Or the lack of, actually.
--
Arkan
Since it's highly doubtful that Sony can permit the resale of the japanese PSP consoles in Hong Kong no matter if on the local market or for export, it looks like this is planned to be one of the not the bright marketing ideas of the Sony HQ.
Allow me to be the first to congratulate the article submitter on his clever literary device: the writeup itself reads like a poorly-translated Japanese video game. Highly apropos!
SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
actually that should read:
everytime you buy from sony, the RIAA and MPAA extend the copyright on kittens.
Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source