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Lik-Sang Is Out Of Business
AKAImBatman writes "Thanks to Sony's heavy handed tactics, popular game importer Lik-Sang is closing its doors. All Lik-Sang customers are having their orders cancelled and refunded. Any attempt to place a new order redirects your web browser to the news of Lik-Sang's demise." From the announcement: "'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. It's the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it', stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com. 'Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally won, a few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today.'" Many thanks to Sony for ruining it for the rest of us. I hope that your business model makes up for the customer goodwill you're lighting on fire today. Update: 10/24 21:34 GMT by Z : Eurogamer has Sony's response to Lik-Sang's accusations.
If you're not already Boycotting Sony for their misdeeds, then I call upon you to stop purchasing ALL Sony products. Yes, that means no PSP, PS3, or PS2 stuff. (The PS2 and PSP games can be purchased used without majorly impacting a boycott, but it's better if anything Sony sits on the shelf.) More importantly, though, we have to hit Sony where it hurts! Which means no more Sony movies, music, and television.
That means that we can't watch, purchase, or rent popular movies like:
It also means that we need to stop watching popular television shows like:
Understandably, some of these are very entertaining pictures/shows that I (and I'm sure many others) would enjoy seeing. Unfortunately, a complete boycott means that every Sony product line must fail. So I ask you all, politely and humbly, will you boycott Sony? There is no excuse for their behavior, and I cannot in good conscience allow my dollars to support that behavior. If you feel the same way, then I would ask you to LOUDLY proclaim that you are joining the boycott.
Thank you.
P.S. If anyone has Sony contact info, please post it. A flood of angry but well-worded letters will help Sony pay attention to our displeasure.
P.P.S. Read the Lik-Sang announcement for yourself! Apparently, Sony Europe's execs are big customers of Lik-Sang!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Sony's sues someone out fo business for selling their official products?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lik-sang
I really don't understand how Sony can do this kind of thing. Isn't this the kind of thing the World Trade Organisation is supposed to prevent? I thought that there was supposed to be essentially "free trade" between countries in the WTO. Or is it only free trade that benefits corporations that's allowed, not that which benefits us lowly consumers...
I would think that's too harsh. Then again Sony uses their own batteries, so sooner or later their business will go up in flames anyway.
You are only hurting your business, and complementing your competition.
Just like the above posters, I will not recommend nor buy anything from Sony. They are a hack company, and I'm done with them.
Love,
Kieth (Manager EB Games #47564)
Sony has attacked lik-sang for massive damage.
('nuff said)
"I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
Lik Sang's entire business revolved around shipping PSPs to Europe? I doubt it.
I wonder if play-asia.com are worried?
Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for an hour. Set him on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
I hope you posted that through an anonimization service...
Why the hell would Sony give a shit about imports? Because it hurts sales in Europe, but not in China? Who cares? All the money goes to the same source in the end, so what's the big deal?
It would make sense that when you sell a product to someone, it's theirs to do with as they wish, but apparently not...
Deleted
Regulation is good.
Global warming is a cube.
Allright, I've had it. from now on NO MORE SONY.
If I absolutely positively must have any of its media(games movies cds etc) or electronics products i'll either warez it or buy it second hand.
None of my money will ever support those greedy assholes again.
perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
If the grey market product is cheaper than the offically licensed product it hurts Sony's relationship with their customers, aka the Retail Stores, that sell their products.
Now the percentage of people who buy outside of the regular retail channel is probably pretty small, but given that Europeans pay more for the same product (DVDs, Games etc) it is believeable that the margins hurt Sony and the regular retail chains.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
Hiring pirates to sink the shipment of PS3s to the US? I hear the russians sell some cheap submarines that could be used to torpedo freight ships once you know which ones transport the PS3s...
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
For anyone who isn't very familiar of Lik-Sang, they were a Hong Kong based company who would ship video games all over the world. Easily one of (if not the) best import websites on the internet.
Out of my many transactions with them, there was an error only once. A simple call to customer service and they quickly corrected everything. This is truely a sad sad day.
One dollar here says Lik-Sang will continue their activity from other place where Sony strong arm is not so strong.
Its good PR to be in their actual position...
NEOCA - Custom LED Flashlights
Boycotts are often called for but they just don't work.
Even though this move against Lik-Sang is outrageous, it turns out that people just don't care enough to deprive themselves of entertainment.
I have no sig yet I must scream.
So what's a good alternative website for ordering gear from?
Also, I'm looking for GBA game dev "home-brew" related hardware. Any recommended sites?
Cheers
Get a Mac.
Sony was right to do what they did in this case.
Lik-Sang was given the right to distribute products within a certain region, they broke the terms of their contract with sony and now they're closing their doors, and blaming it on sony.
You make the bed you sleep in.. Lik-Sang chose to go outside the bounds of their contract, and are trying to ride high on a ton of anti-sony fanboy diatribe.
boohoo for them.
btw.. this happens all the time.. it's called the "grey market" or "black market".. it happens with everything from automobiles to tvs
I may not have been the biggest Lik-Sang customer ever, in fact apart from a few relatively small purchases I mainly used their site for window-shopping, drooling over all the stuff I couldn't afford yet but wanted to save up for. They were often the only way to avoid the cesspits of eBay for certain things, and they always went above and beyond in terms of customer service for me.
Sure, they were a Hong Kong import/export warehouse who wrote websites in broken English, but they really seemed to care about making people happy more than the rest of them that just want to shift merchandise. They had news. They had reviews. They had style.
I feel like I've just lost the modern Internet version of the classic little mom-and-pop shop that always had the coolest stuff.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
I read the linked articles and I can't get it..is this a copyright infringement lawsuit or an equipment safety one?
Sony keeps talking about voltage levels and such but the suit is always labelled as "intellectual property". Which is it?
Also, in the case it's IP, doesn't the doctrine of first sale allow anyone to resell the copyrighted stuff any way he or she wishes?
Sony is simply using the perfected in the usa method of suing a company to death. It doesn't matter if they are right or wrong, the legal fees required to fight such things are monumental. Sony went out of their way to kill their company there is no "if" "and"s or "but"s about it. Had Sony been interested in a fair lawsuit they would have brought just one up against them with multiple charges rather than multiple suits with individual charges.
Too bad for Lik-Sang. They sold a lot of cool stuff and was definitely near the top of the list if you wanted to import consoles or games. While one can understand Sony's behaviour from a certain point of view, it still seems really odd to go after a company that actively promotes their products. If Sony is in such bad shape, that the perceived losses due to Lik-Sang's activities are significant to them, then I wonder if the end of Lik-Sang is a prelude to the end of Sony if the PS3 transition goes poorly. Just how close to the edge of failure is Sony? Will Korean archrival Samsung come in and buy what's left if Sony totally tanks? Yeah, that Samsung part is total wild outta the a** speculation, but it is widely known that Sony is not in the best of shape.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
It's a pity Lik Sang closes because I really liked that shop. It was especially easy to order there because they had bank accounts in many countries so I didn't have to pay for international bank transfers.
I also have to add that Sony is not the only company that restricted game imports from Japan. Nintendo has done it before with the N64 and as much as I like Nintendo, I have never understood the reason for that restriction. It's the same with DVDs - if the publisher in my country produces an acceptable version, only a few people will import the game/DVD just to get it a few days earlier. If the localized version is inferior to the Japanese version, more people will import it. So it's just a simple market mechanism and why should a company bother to change this?
The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
Boycotts don't work because consumers don't like giving stuff up.
In this case, you could always just pirate it instead of buying. Still gives them mindshare, but no profits. Seem to me that's the only way you'd ever accomplish a Sony boycott.
Consumers are sheep; unless provided an equally-attractive alternative, they'll never really give anything they enjoy up, no matter how repugnant its production might be.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
This isn't the first time Lik-Sang have run into trouble. They changed hands a year or two ago when they were being sued for selling mod-chips. I thought they'd at least be safe now, but no. Perhaps Sony should have funnelled the money they spent on the lawsuit into making their SoundStage software half-decent and producing an MP3 player that doesn't use their shitty ATRAC format.
Seriously, I can't remember the last time I bought something by Sony.
DRM Hell
Proprietary media formats
Proprietary Memory Hardware
NO Post-Sale Support
They've been crapping on customers for a decade.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Yes, it would be too harsh.
*please mod informative, please mod informative*
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
They were bypassing Sony's "official" channels and hurting their ability to price discriminate.
The 'grey market' is an equalizer; it's a basically unified marketplace that defies the attempts of the monopolists to charge different prices for the same thing in different places, by taking advantage of the cheap global transportation that we're blessed with today.
This is why it's so hated.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Nothing in this news report explains exactly why Lik-Sang is closing. It makes mention of action against the reselling of PSPs, but it sells plenty of Nintendo hardware and other systems' software...IANAL, but I don't see any precedents set in the most recent ruling that affect software (nor do I see Nintendo legal action brewing on the horizon). Is this a case of Sony being aggressive behind the public's back and ordering Lik-Sang to shut its doors without saying why to avoid future action? Is Lik-Sang using this opportunity to dump the business and divert potentially angry customers at a red herring? This story is dying for more research and explanation.
But you'll still have Sony batteries.
Sony suing Lik-Sang is one of the most stupid things I've seen a company do.
And besides that, it is also a obvious example of double standards. Even Sony directors were huge clients of Lik-Sang.
For example (as stated in the note):
- Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd)
- Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd)
- Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd)
- Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited)
I'll be avoiding Sony stuff after this...
-- SouNerd.com
Folks at home, that '*cough*' was Trashhalo coughing up blood after being hit by a huge battery explosion. (For massive damage)
I won't be purchasing a PS3. Ever.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
This goes with my theory that about 25 mega companies (Disney, Sony, Coke, Time-Warner-AOL, RJ Reynolds, Haliburton, etc.) basically control the whole world. Maybe 50.
- For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
Didn't think so!
Ever since Sony acquired large media properties, the old Sony has been slowly dismantled piece by piece, as one horrible business decision after another is foisted on the consumer by the influence of the media divisions. If Sony wasn't so concerned about defending their media units (dvds,cds,film,etc.), we wouldn't have had things like the root kit fiasco, crippled MP3 players, and $600 gaming systems. We also might have a company that focuses on what they did best, delivering consumer electronics to a willing market.
This is just the latest in a string of strong arm tactics from a company that has lost its roots and its way. Apparently, hitting them in the wallet is the only chance of getting them to change. Maybe if the PS3 flops, they will be forced to reexamine their structure and strategy.
I'm all for the calls of BOYCOTT! I wasn't going to buy an overpriced PS3 anyways, but I'm not going to be buying other Sony products either.
Lik-Sang was a great, quirky outfit. They'll be sorely missed!
It's not capitalism when YOU do it!
Seriously, is it now okay in the UK to ban customers from reselling any products?
You are aware they were based out of Hong Kong, right? At least that's my understanding.
I'm not sure where they should move to, if they want to sell Asian video games to the Western market. I would have thought they were safe there. Sony probably has enough political heft in Japan to make that a non-starter, and I assume that the Chinese would probably happily make life miserable for a "foreign" company in order to score points with the West during the run-up to the Olympics (in the same way that they occasionally crack down on piracy). Russia is busy giving sucky-sucky to everyone and their cousin in order to get admission to the WTO...
Maybe they could put their servers in Sealand, handle the financial transactions through the Cayman Islands or Switzerland, and drop-ship the packages from anonymous storefronts in major cities in Southeast Asia?
Cripes, at that point it seems more like operating a terrorist cell than a videogames exporter. Course, if Sony ran the world, there wouldn't be a difference.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
sony mgmt & the art of shit-crapping-ur-brand-image...
IANAMBA
You make it sound as if all they did was sell "official" Playstation products. Sony's problem with this outfit stems way back and was mainly centered around products sold which enabled pirated versions of their games to be played on their systems.
Now seriously say you are a software developer which I am sure some of you are and you have a retail outlet selling one of your products. Along with that product sits another product which cercumvents the licensing of the product your selling as well as the licensing of most everyone elses software. Sure they are selling your software but honestly when atleast the majority of the customers to that retail store are going there to purchase the item used to run your software for free what diffrence does it make that they sell your software as well.
Lets face it people Lik-Sang made their name selling items used mainly to pirate games for consoles and are now hiding behind the fact that they then sold a few PSP's. I guarentee you Sony did not fight Lik-Sang just because they sold PSP's and to flame a company for protecting their's as well as other's intelectual property well...
"Hello sony,
It has come to my attention that your legal attacks against the online retailer lik-sang.com has lead to its closure. I had supported this retailer in the past, and some of their items lead me to purchase more sony products.
Due to your unethical legal attacks on them, I have decided to boycott your company. I have been a gamer for my entire life, so this is no small commitment.
I look forward to the games of your competitors, and hope you fail."
I'm not going to hand out any contact info, you guys are smart enough to google it.
If you really want to hurt sony, go out and purchase the expensive version of the PS3! If you do that, and then don't buy any of their games, movies, cd's, etc, they might actually go out of business. (I admit I will have a hard time not buying games... but Sony has made me sad, and I see now that they really do need to be taken down a few notches)
Frag 'em all...
Flamebait me if you will, but it sounds to me that Lik-Sang is going the crybaby route and taking their toys and going home, hoping that people will, as have already on slashdot, go for the zomg boycott sony!@# approach.
Well played.
I'm sure someone else already said this, but it's probably still fine to buy used.
Remember this when some big corporation starts whining about government regulation of the market. They don't want a free market. They want government regulation that favours them.
come on this company was more a target for their Playstation disc verification bypass products more than the importing of games. I remember when they sold PS2 mod chips and swap discs. There are plenty of other importing companies, these guys got singled out because they were selling "backup devices". I hate SONY as much as the next guy, but they do have to protect their intellectual property.
Sony is hurting the World. They attack international trade and force the underdogs like Lik-Sang to close shop and go home. They push DRM and deny us access to what we have purchased. They push DRM on us, forcing us to buy the same content many times on different media.
Consider a typical Sony gaming console, the PSP. It's a very nice portable computer, but you can only use it to run Sony-approved software. When people liberate the firmware by hacking it, Sony releases a new firmware version that closes up the hardware again. Sony game consoles are the embodiment of DRM, of restricted hardware that has no master but Sony. You may have paid for it, but you don't own it. You can only use it for Sony-approved uses, even though it is capable of so much more.
It's all fun and games until you realize that Sony employs vast hordes of high-paid lobbyists to influence legislation across the world, and uses the courts and law enforcement to do its bidding. Sony has helped to create a legal environment under which you can be punished for selling one of their consoles without authorization, or liberating that console so that it can run the software of your choice.
Sony is actively trying to change laws and to harass those who would go against Sony. We must not stand for this.
Sony makes great products, and great entertainment, but because of their despicable actions, we are justified in pirating it without qualms.
Let us pirate Sony's content, let us hack their hardware and subvert it to our will!
Down with Sony! Up with Piracy!
It's possible to enjoy all of these without paying Sony for the privelge:
Playstation stuff - It's debatable about whether or not the hardware for the PS3 is a loss leader - thus, purchasing it may actually hurt Sony financially. To top it off, if you sell one on eBay this Christmas for a higher price, you would then make money at Sony's expense.
Alternatively, you could simply purchase all Playstation products (including the PS3 once there are ample supplies) used. Since Sony only makes money for the first sale of each property, you can rest assured that Sony won't make any money on your purchases. Or rent games from video stores or Gamefly.
Movies - Essentally the same as video games, simply rent the DVD once the movie leaves theaters or buy it used.
TV shows - Unless you're part of a Nielsen family, it makes no difference to Sony whether you watch their show or not. The TV show was already purchased by the TV station with money from the advertisers. If you feel you must do something, then either ask your local TV station to stop running said shows (Good Luck there - "I feel that since Sony shut down a game importing company it is morally reprehensible for you to show "The Boondocks.") or mute the ads and/or don't purchase any products that are advertised during said shows (this may prove diffcult, though - can you honestly stop going to your favorite local hot dog stand solely because one of their ads happened to run during Jeopardy! ?) Alternatively, wait for the series to be printed on DVDs, and then rent/buy used.
So...yeah. By doing these things, I'm contributing exactly as much money to Sony as the above poster while still watching shows I like.
I was a grey market importer. It's an interesting business to be in. There are two reasons for the grey market: either to bring in a product that is not marketed in the destination country, or to take advantage of arbitrage when the product is available but the official importer adds a hefty premium.
Either way, you will eventually attract hostile attention, especially if you undercut the official importer (either by lower prices or earlier market presence). Your best strategy is to fly under the radar; that is, be too small a fry and ideally be in a market that is entirely neglected.
In Lik-Sang's case, they had a history of selling mod-chips (which according to some is black market rather than grey market) and they were undercutting the official importer. They also marketed in the UK, which has much more hostile laws to the grey market than the USA.
It is much harder to suppress the grey market in the USA via the courts. Believe me, they tried. It was quite a fight for a while, but eventually the grey market won.
Yet, the grey market is much less active in the USA. This is because the producers came to understand that the only way to drive the grey marketeers out of business in the USA was to compete with them on a level playing field; that is, to offer an official (and hence supported) USA version of the product at a competitive price.
To tell you the truth, I didn't mind being shut down. I am a consumer as well as a(n ex-)grey marketeer. The official importer undercut not only my price but the price that I paid overseas, and had a more suitable product for the USA market. Ultimately, my grey market activities were to help sponsor my overseas shopping trips, as opposed to being an income-producing business; and the official importer made that unnecessary.
The success of the grey market also helped convince the producers that there was a market in the USA for their product. That probably would not have happened if it weren't for us.
So, in the end, everybody won in the USA by not suppressing the grey market through the courts. Too bad that the UK government isn't as wise.
If Sony actually had a case and won the juridical trial, shouldn't you boicott the legal system as well?
...
OT : I remember a few years ago when Nintendo dragged Lik-Sang to court, making them stop selling flash devices (aka : hardware pirate devices) - guess Lik-Sang took a hit back then too
Which will explode due to shoddy manufacturing.
Should the blame here rest mainly with Sony, and other corporations who exploit their deep pockets to manipulate the legal system for their mercenary tactics--or should we blame the bollocksed legal systems (in this case, Britain's) that allow them to do so?
I hadn't honestly even considered it before, but I don't understand this lawsuit at all, it seems to be pure spite.
The only thing I've bought from Sony recently (within the past 3 years) is a MiniDV camcorder. I thought "no way they can possibly fuck that up," right? I mean, it's a standard format.
Well, they tried; it uses the most bizarre power cord design I've ever seen. Sure, they could have used a regular barrel-and-pin connector like everyone else in the world does, but no. They have to go with this hideous E-shaped abortion of a plug, which only works with Sony gear and of course isn't compatible with generic DC converters and whatnot.
I also noticed that on the new "Minolta" cameras (Sony A100), they've gone the same route. Pity Konica didn't sell the Minolta division out to Panasonic instead.
I can sum up Sony in one word: control.
They want to control everything. Any opportunity they have to own a particular niche or distribution channel, even if it's something as dumb as power adaptors, they'll take. Even when it's control that any rational person would agree they have no right to have (say, over your computer), they try to take it. The issue with Lik-Sang is similar; Lik-Sang challenged Sony's absolute, iron-fisted control over product distribution, and Sony destroyed them for it. There are really few companies who can compete with Sony in terms of arrogance and disrespect for their customers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Yes, the WTO is designed to smash up "local" consumer-friendly regulations and propogate "global" corporation-friendly regulations. It helps corporations shift capital spending freely between countries and chase low labor costs and wimpy environmental protections, but there's no similar provision for individual freedom of movement.
In other words, a large part of what maintains the low labor costs is the fact that its legally hard for people stuck in most third-world countries to just pick up and move to a better country.
What's this have to do with Sony's "regional distribution?" If you were a company, it might be frowned on by the WTO, but because you are a lowly biped, you get nothing except a reminder to please stay in your own country and await further orders.
The lawsuit in question wasn't about infringement enabling devices (read: modchips...). It was about selling PSP's to the UK without Sony's permission. Completely different thing altogether.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
I am so sick of that company saying your not a gamer unless you conform to THEIR idea of a gamer.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
A few resons to hate Sony. Please reply with anything I may have missed.
Forcing Lik-Sang out of business
Selling Root-Kit infected music CDs
Their contribution to the HD DVD format war
Harrassing Bleem at gaming industry trade shows
The ensuing Bleem bloodbath, and Bleem's eventual demise
Fatal mismanagement of the UMD movie format
The constant war against PSP homebrew developers
Their inability to accept and support industry standard digital media formats
The Sony Memory Stick (when MMC/SD were better,chaper,faster)
The Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo (SD is still better,chaper,faster)
The Sony Network Walkman, better known as the MP3 player that doesn't support MP3
The ATRAC3 compression algorithm
The Sony Mini-Disc format
Fatal mismanagement of the Sony Mini-Disc format
The VHS-Beta format war
The Betamax format
Currently, vendors have the right to limit distribution to a certain region. It is time to change copyright law in that regard and strengthen the rights of the end users.
AFAIK that has already happened within the EU, at least car makers have already be fined for trying to prevent re-imports from other EU states. Not that it will help the brits much in this case:
Since they are the only large english-speaking country in the EU, buying from France or Germany won't help them to get cheaper english versions of their games.
C - the footgun of programming languages
No, it didn't, but they can't afford to deal with the lawsuits and pressure being applied by Sony towards them. So, even though this was only a portion of their business, the pressure is enough to force them to close down.
You are who you are, let no one tell you different. But, never close your mind to a new point of view.
This is an indication that there is in all probability some sort of copy protection on the CD. It's a downcheck on the CD and means I for one will not be buying it...
Too bad to see such a good company go. I've checked their site regularly for years to look for interesting items I could use with my curent gaming hardware, such as the Japan-only Nintendo DS web browser. I'm sure someone else will eventually take Lik-Sang's place, but no one will ever have such detailed information about foreign products like Lik-Sang offered.
8==8 Bones 8==8
Sorry, I had to say it. That is all.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
If I absolutely positively must have any of its media(games movies cds etc) or electronics products i'll either warez it or buy it second hand.
Come on, now. If you're actually taking this position on principle, how can you even talk about absolutely positively "must having" a game?
It's one thing to grumble if, say, your employer requires you to use a Sony product (batteries?). But you never, ever, "need" entertainment. By pretending that you're going to somehow teach them some lesson by ripping off their media products, you're just not admitting that your desire for their entertainer's handiwork is still stronger than your loathing of them as a business. Well, which is it? Ripping them off still increases the demand for their products. It maintains buzz, visibility, and the notion that even people who can't afford to buy their own entertainment are willing to break the law to have Sony products. If you really don't like them, just walk away. Completely. Only that will teach them a lesson.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
The only reason I can see for Sony to sue them is if they're somehow making less money by selling PSPs to Lik-Sang who sells them to the UK, than if they sell them to the UK.
As an aside: Did Sony go through a major change in leadership recently? They didn't always seem this anti-social.
What did they do anyway that was so illegal or wrong?
AFAICT, Lik Sang bought goods in one place, thereby invoking "Exhaustion of Rights" -- i.e., the law which says that once you have sold something that used to have been your property once to somebody else, whatever the hell they do with it next is none of your bloody business -- and sold the same goods in another place. What's so terrible about that? For crying out loud, there are laws in place that protect your right to do exactly that! For instance, on the European Mainland, DVD players must be multi-region; because it has been ruled by the European courts that preventing a movie sold in one country from being watched in another is anti-competitive behaviour. How is this not the case with video games? Or is this another bit of the Maastricht Treaty that John Major opted us out of while he was Prime Minister?
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
It doesn't make any sense... why would you call for a boycott of Sony from the people who wanted Sony products so much they imported them early?
They almost have this on the shelves at Fry's -- a MediaMax cartridge with a built-in 4 gig drive. But that's a little costly at $150.00. The SD card reader version was considerably cheaper, but apparently was only (easily) available through Lik-Sang. Well, now that they're dead, I don't know how I'm going to obtain one at all, much less at a fair price.
In a previous life, I did some development on the Nintendo GBA. We obtained the compatible FLASH carts and programmers from Lik-Sang and got some interesting prototypes running. The Nintendo DS is an insanely cute little device, and I'm rather interested in cobbling a few things together for it. I guess it's back to Google to look for alternatives. Drat, blast, and fie...
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Sony hasn't wanted our business for years. Look at all the restrictions they put on their products: the weird file formats, the proprietary "Memory Stick", the DRM on their media products, the rootkit, and ..... Mission Impossible 3.
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
Send it here.
Let them know your thoughts.
Imagine that Nintendo buys up the remains of Lik-Sang.
They get rid of the illegitimate parts of their business, then let them carry on business as usual for Nintendo products, only they're on N's payroll and N gets all the profit.
Imagine that. Buy any game you want in any part of the world when it comes out. No 6, 8 or 12 month delay farces like the N64 was plagued with, or having to go through grey markets.
But that'll never happen, so here's hoping some good Wii/DS emulators show up soon.
From wikipedia:
Lik Sang has announced that it is closing its doors, as of October 24th 2006, because of those fags at Sony.
I can't see this edit in the lik-sang article lasting long.
My name is Kieth. Stop picking on me.
Me too, I don't remember when I last bought anything from the evil giant!
"DRM-Hell"
I also hate how Windows media player DRM's cd's you rip with it! And PlaysForSure, if it's plays for so sure, why doesn't it work with their own player, zune? They don't need a rootkit since they already OWN your computer.
"Propiertary media formats"
WMA,WMV,DOC,XLS,SMB,MFC
"Propiertary memory hardware"
I haven't heard about this. Probably because they are not in memory card business (yet.. still many markets to grab over).
"NO Post-Sale Support"
That's unfair, you can call them for a new Activation code anytime!
signatures pending - ansa@kos.to - (dont mail there)
No it's says that because it's a "Dual-Disc" release meaning it's a double sided "flipper" disc with one side Audio CD and the other side DVD (either DVD Audio or DVD Video). these discs change the location of the audio layer from a depth of 1.2mm to .6 mm which means some players will have trouble reading it... hence the warning.
Collector's Edition
"They" are the millions of people who don't read Slashdot and have no idea who Lik-Sang is. "They" are the people who only heard about the rootkit when it was on CNN. "They" are the millions of people who probably have a vague idea that their Gap t-shirt and Nike shoes were made by an underpaid child laborer, and don't really care; or that the $199 bargain PC they bought was probably made at a factory that dumps toxic waste into the environment, and buy it anyway. They are the people who keep Wal-Mart in business, even if the result is the elimination of local jobs or stores.
Most people do not care about ethical dilemmas if taking the 'high road' costs more than a few dollars extra. If you want to get them involved in a boycott, there either has to be some tangible goal that will benefit them, or the boycott can't cost them anything.
The free market value of a "warm, fuzzy feeling" is virtually nil.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
since these are GENUINE PRODUCTS. Not rip-off copies. The trademark was legitimate.
What could be done is attack them for saying "Tesco's is a licensed Levi's distributor".
The trademark protection is supposed to stop someone buying something that isn't really what is seems. E.g. Sorny walkman or "Rolex" watches. In the first case, it is confusingly similar and in the second a rip-off copy.
That isn't the case here, since they are genuine Sony/Levi products.
I don't buy Levi's or Sony stuff.
Would you like to just temporarily remove those Sony salesman's genitals from your mouth and repeat what you just said? I couldn't understand you the first time...
Turns out his moith was clear, you just had your head up your own ass. Try listening with less ass in your ears.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How convenient. A dual meaning message. It could be copy protection, it could be a dual layer disk to throw you off. It's like Russian Roulette with CD Specs!
Have a look at today's woot: http://www.woot.com/
We live in a capitalist system. In such a system if Sony can sue the ass off LikSang, and they feel that will increase their revenue, then they should. However capitalism only works if you have a strong legal system that protects the public at large. We should really be blaming our governments and our legal system for allowing this to happen.
The lawsuits against Lik-Sang are fairly petty. Copyright violation of putting parts of the PSP manual online. Trademark violation for shipping PSPs to the UK. And so on. The purpose was to keep suing as Lik-Sang could not afford all these expensive court battles. This is the same way Sony destroyed Bleem!. Looks like Sony learned something from the Immersion lawsuits.
The UK Courts went along with this, I suspect, more due to the taxation they lose on importers.
Sony's interest in all this:
-Price fixing (PS3s are cheaper in Japan than everywhere else. This price fixing alone should remove the 'region free' attitude Sony pretends to embrace. (Importing a Japanese PS3 would probably be cheaper than buying one locally.)
-Blu-Ray is not region free. Importers ruin the Blu-Ray Domination scheme.
Playasia is next.
Lik-Sang should be serving Google ads on their site right now. With all of the hits they're receiving from not only Slashdot, but Digg *gasp*, Wired, etc., they'd have a nice little income for their brief stint as victim. I forsee a new business model: piss off major corporation; have millions of people flood your site in a short time; serve ads; make money; run to Mexico with your new mistress, Juanita.
Last week it was "please buy Sony, so Microsoft doesn't buy them out". Will Slashdot make up it's mind? Once again proving my point that if MS did buy Sony it would be for the best for the consumer. Not that MS would ever take over Sony, I think they have their hands full as it is.
Sony does need to be brought down a peg or two. I love people crying over how they think MS is a monopoly, when Sony makes them look like mere amateurs. A Sony-owned artist gets distributed on Sony media, to be played on Sony equipment. Which wouldn't be so bad, if they didn't make everything so proprietary. I can't wait until they Betamax the Blueray tech nology.
Usually i cannot stand people who say "Im Boycotting XYZ because of this" because it rarely makes a difference
But in this case, i can see this working, theres a lot of momentum behind the boycott now, from both this and past offenses
I Hope Sony gets whats coming to them
Chalk me up for the Boycot, this is several grands worth of spending money nintendo and toshiba will be enjoying instead
I hope they can appeal to the court, and stop this nonsense. Sony may not know, but this is hurting themselves; I live in Brazil, a country plagued by piracy, because no company ever paid attention to at least 18 million potential customers (10% of population, rich people, the same as the whole population of UK). Now, the only way to get legal games is paying US$100-US$150 for a PS2/Xbox/GC/Xbox360/DS game on stores that import themselves, or importing youself, and that's the reason piracy is so big over here.
Guess which console is easier to find, easier to buy modded, and owns about 80% of brazillian hardware marketshare?!
But there are people that instead decided to support the companies and buy legal games trough importers, like Lik-Sang, WHAT WON'T HAPPEN ANYMORE! Because if Sony could win over Lik-Sang, every gaming company can do the same, relying on that judge's decision. Also, they can rely on that to sue ANY import reseller.
This must be a f'cking joke.
I am not buying a PS3 until I can get it used, and all the games I want used. For the first time in my life, I want the retailer getting the profits, not the manufacturer. Can anyone with a business mind tell me if this is a good plan to enjoy the franchise games I've played for years, but without contributing to Sony's evil tactics?
Why must I buy a pair of fucking shoes for $80+ when a pair that are $20 are just as good (if not BETTER)? same goes for pants, shirts, you name it
I have to disagree with you there. In most cases, the old adage "you get what you pay for" holds true. Take running shoes for example. A good pair of running shoes is going to set you back at least $100, no matter what. If you buy anything cheaper, you're simply risking injury. That's just what it costs to make a good pair of running shoes.
Or how about sunglasses? Yes, Oakleys and Ray Bans are overpriced, but they actually are much better sunglasses than the kind on the spinning rack at the local drug store.
That said, while I do often buy name brand products when they are legitimately better, I resent advertising for them. I don't wear shirts with a big "Nike" swoosh plastered on the chest. I'm not a walking billboard. Why would I pay $35 for the "privilege" of walking around advertising for your brand? They should be paying me! I buy nice things that are high quality and will hold up to use, I just don't like to give them free advertising.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
Wii will remember this!
OK. It's not like I was going to buy a PS3 or a PSP anyway. Wii for me, and maybe a high-def-playing Xbox 360 when I get my Sony HD TV... oh crap. Looks like it's Panasonic for me.
I think we all need to send a polite letter to Mr. Yankovic that we cannot purchase his music because of his distributor. With any luck, that will add a semi-important figure to the cause.
"The cause?" "The cause???" What "cause?" The plight of some piddly little Hong Kong company that makes its money by skirting international trade laws? You think Weird Al is going to pull the plug on his most successful album ever to stand up for the right to illegally import non-compliant electronics in Europe?
Get over yourself!
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
"Many thanks to Sony for ruining it for the rest of us. I hope that your business model makes up for the customer goodwill you're lighting on fire today."
I thought that it was their batteries that were on fire?
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
DON"T BUY THE PS-3!!!
We are a drop in the bucket for movies, TV Shows, and Music.
We are not when it comes to first adopters.
Don't buy the PS-3 don't buy blue ray.
Now if someone will please tell me where I can import stuff for my Dreamcast and DS lite please?
I was going to buy the Opera Webbrowser today but now I am really out of luck.
Sony you have become more evil then Microsoft at this point.
What I have not seen is the REAL REASON why Sony went after them.
The PS-3 is going to be cheaper in Japan. Sony would loose out on soaking the customers in the EU.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Much easier to boycott than you think: their cameras don't support standard storage mediums and their PS3 is too damn expensive. For the rest of the range it really doesn't matter.
Unfortunately most of the larger market couldn't care about the shit Sony is dealing up these days, as long as they get their mega TV.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Mercury systems builds cell-based systems and add-in boards that cost several thousand dollars, while the PS3 will cost a few hundred. Why the discrepancy in prices?
Are there any cell-based systems that are cheap, aside from the PS3?
I gave up on Sony long ago.
Rarely do I find a television show that I watch or might watch that is somehow involved with Sony, same goes with movies though they are more prominent. At least I go to matinee shows and save a few extra dollars when I do go to the movies.
I don't own a PS or PSP, nor do I plan to. I bought an Xbox and then find just a few short months later that the next version is coming out in another year or so, and suddenly you can't find games for the original anymore. Sony is mucht eh same in that regard. I'm not going to shell out money every few years for a new console just to play the new games when my PC does just as good a job, I already own it, and it's much easier to upgrade.
Further, Sony has no hold over my home. So far as I can recall, I own no Sony products other than a few CD's and maybe 5 or 6 DVD's. I think I have some appliances and such that may have Sony hardware in them, but they are not Sony branded (like a laptop CD drive or something similar).
Sony hasn't been one of my favorite companies for a few years, and ranks right down their with US West/Qwest Communications, CitiFinancial, and TCF Banks and Mortgage. They're all horrid and they just don't see it, even when customers start flooding to other providers/businesses/sources for the same things, or drop that service or device out of their lives all together. I am on such person, which is why I don't have a home phone (Qwest) and my home mortgage is no longer with TCF even though I have a slightly higher interest rate now than before. As it turns out, my new vehicle ended up getting financed through Citi, though I'm already in process of moving that to my credit union instead.
Regardless, Sony need not rule our lives or even live in a portion of it. They have no hold on me, and I'm not missing anything yet. My wife feels the same way, as do a number of my geek friends and their friends since they've all been bitten by Sony at some point or other in the last few years, and word of mouth alone is making them change their minds. They found out about this and started raising hell all over again.
Boycott Sony? Already have, and will continue to do so.
Things you can say to your dog that you can't say to a girl: "How about a nice bone?"
okay, great so you want to boycott sony for differential pricing in a global market. Good. I agree, other people would agree, though not all. You have the following to do:
1) you sound 14 and totally pissed, for the next 10 minutes. Make a postit on your frigde that reads: "Is it 2010 yet or has Sony allowed single pricing? if not hate sony more."
2) you need to actually find what makes sony the most money, and avoid it.
3) you need to tell people who arrn't on slashdot about your boycott
4) you should convince everyone, remember that they don't hate sony. Work through it with logic.
5) there will be a lot of people you can't convince; how can you marginalize them.
okay. so that's not easy; hopefully you'll stop reading slashdot; turn off the PC and start phoning people, and writing letters to others, and informing retailers that they're about to be stuck in the middle and you're not sorry etc.
I'm curious as to why you need an HD-DVD player.
It seems to me that you actually have at least a couple choices: you can choose to defer your entertainment for a while or you can choose to just not upgrade to HD-DVD.
Those mother fuckers. I can't even think of anything intelligent to say because I'm too fucked off.
Of course not, I never made one. And I never will :-)
Wii wiill wiimember!
Oh please am I the only one with any sense. For years Lik-Sang was going downhil, and yes I ahve ordered many of thigns from them. Alot of there customers got shafted many times cus they didn't have what they had advertised on there site. I remember many times that I went to order something and it was not available. So only blaming Sony like everyone can only do make you just as bad as you think Sony is. Don't blame a another company for anothers failure. I actually wish some fools would try to boycott Sony. All that will do is bring more business. Remeber when EA was in the news for over working there staff, people boycotted and refused to buy EA games; what did that do, in crease the sales of EA games. So yes flood Sony with you whining so that the execs can read it and laugh as the PS3 takes over the market share for console sales.
I wonder how this would stand up if all the grey imports got together and took Sony to the European courts. Isn't price discrimination meant to be illegal by European law?
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
its *WOOOSSH*
and it is the sound of joke fast over your head
This is, in plain and simple terms, complete and utter bullshit.
As a consumer, as an ex-sony fanboi, I am hurt.
I don't want to pay for rootkits. I don't want to pay to be treated like a criminal. I don't want to pay $599USD for a games console that some of my favorite brands are exclusively using to release their software. I'm sick of release dates being pushed back, and lies fed to the consumer.
I need help, we all need to help ourselves and our fellow consumers.
stopitsony.org - Just registered, will be online very soon as a Blog and Forum intended to organize the masses of enlightened consumers into showing the unenlightened ones - and Sony - that this sort (or any sort) of corporate assault and malice is not acceptable, and we as consumers will not stand for it.
This is a plea to get involved. Let your opinions be known. Supply addresses for well worded letters to be sent to. Organize petitions outside your local EB Games. Tell your friends, your rich uncle that buys overpriced Sony televisions and stereos, anyone that cares.
Did Sony patent the idea of suing a company from so many countries at once? I hope they did because it's a wonderful idea to take out competitors.
Oh, mighty, all-platform, light gun... how bittersweet thine existence. That thy knowest of thou, yet ne'er knowest thou. Thy patter, in the distance. Retreated from mine ear, hast thou. Return, sweet Lik-sang. Return!
"Moral indignation is just jealousy with a halo."
I have disliked Sony for a long time because of their unwillingness to adopt to widely spread standards. Instead they fight to spread their property standards (memory stick, DVD+r, beta max, blu-ray etc).
Thees fights damage the consumers. For example, how much longer did it take for DVD-recorders to become common in PC's due to the war between DVD+r and DVD-r?
This is just another argument for me to continue my boycott against Sony.
I don't see a boycott going anywhere on this. But it definitely is NOT going to help their sales.
I was on the fence for the PS3... I'm the type that buys all the consoles eventually. Now... I don't know that I want a Sony console, no matter WHAT games come out for it. I have a 360, and I'll have a Wii... But I don't think I'll go for a PS3.
I'm even seriously considering dumping my PSP now. I rarely play it anyway, and it's been forever since they released a game I'd consider buying.
It's going to mean I miss out on the Final Fantasy series from here out. And that saddens me greatly. And other games like Okami and Katamari Damacy, since Playstation has been the console that small companies develop for... But maybe they'll change. Maybe. I suspect there'll be enough games on the other 2 consoles and PC that I won't miss it too much.
Wow. It's hard for me to imagine disliking Sony more than Microsoft. Amazing.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
My Dell Inspiron 6400/E1505 has a Sanyo battery, and has been completely unaffected by the recalls.
Is this practical if your local electric power company's advertisement and the advertisements of both the local telephone and cable companies play during one or more Sony TV shows on one or more networks? Should I stop wearing cotton clothes if National Cotton Council advertises on a Sony TV show? Where should one draw the line?
Personally, I recall my experience with Lik Sang's customer service as awful. But with that said, it is unfortunate (though not surprising) that the import industry has taken such a blow.
I always tried to avoid buying Sony products, but wouldn't restrict myself specifically from doing so, but after this, that's it. They destroyed one of my favorite gaming companies, bleem!, and now they've destroyed Lik-Sang. Screw them. I'm not buying another product by them.
Scorta futuere amo!
And what exactly makes you less of a sheep then everyone else in America? Is it because you pirate your music and movies instead of paying for them?
From: info@lik-sang.com
Sender: cancellation@lik-sang.com
Subject: "Order cancelled due to out of business"
Body:
Dear valued customer,
unfortunately, Lik Sang is forced to close its virtual doors for good. This comes as a consequence of the several legal actions brought on us by Sony. For more information on the situation, please point your browser to the following link:
http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901
Therefore, as soon as humanly possible, we will cancel all existing orders, including yours, and issue refunds where necessary.
Please note that it may take anywhere from a few days up to a week or two for refunds to be processed by PayPal, your bank or your credit card company, so please don't worry if you don't see it immediately on your balance statement. You can rest assured that Lik-Sang is monitoring the situation closely with all involved parties. No single customer will be caught in the crossfire of this ordeal.
We are sorry to have to go, and we wish to thank you sincerely your support over the past decade.
Warm regards and a big THANK YOU from the entire Hong Kong crew.
Team Lik-Sang
...but they make the best 1080p HDTV and that's what I bought. If I wasn't already feeling guilty about it, this makes me feel even worse seeing as I made use of Lik Sang myself. Whether or not I buy a PS3 is irrelevant, they probably made more profit from that TV that they'd ever have made out of PS3 games bought by me. Oh! Woe is me! I'm certain to end up in one of the lower rungs of Hades now.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
I have no intention of buying a PS3 anyway. At least not until the console goes through its third or fourth price reduction. When it hits $249 I'll start considering it. Until then, there isn't really enough utility for me in the console to justify the high cost. I'll be getting a Wii + Zelda & Red Steel this Christmas and be damned happy with it.
Sony's marketing and legal strategies do boggle the mind of the casual observer. Sony's whole $600 is too cheap for a PS3 combined with their accusations towards Microsoft and Nintendo of overcharging reminds me of John Romero's "Suck it Down, Bitches!" campaign for Daikatana. Sony telling gamers that we're simply going to take it up the ass and like it simply aint gonna win a lot of converts.
After ION Storm imploded, wasn't Romero forced to sell his fancy sports car? Maybe something similar will happen to Phil Harrison & Ken Kutaragi. We can only hope!
looks like my plans for the PS3 are out the window and just 15 minuts ago i would of been ready to slap down 600+ for one of thoes babies but my pocket book just closed to sony
Some $ony fanboy must be having a bad day. Sorry that he took it out on you.
I for one will never give any money, service, advertising or other support to Sony or any company to which they are related. It's one thing to do "good business" and grow your company, expand your products etc. But when domineering scum like the Sony execs in charge of this attrocity let their soulless greed blind them to the consequences on the world of their actions they don't deserve to have a business any longer. A business, especially a gigantic one like Sony, should want to not only create profit for themselves but do so by making the world a better place. Products and services are about making life better, more entertaining or any of a number of other positive words. When the company, however, lets greed make them hurt the world rather than help it then, just like any destructive delinquint child, they should be disciplined. Boycott Sony.
-asleep
Who cares ?
.. I bet there are plenty of creative legal solutions around the contract rule that Sony complains about; there exist corp. lawyers can make the product sell in the US despite what Sony does.
L-S broke contract, was warned, had more than a year to fix it and didn't. Not only did they not honor the contract, they did so very publicly; they flaunted it in Sony's face. If I was Sony (or any other console maker, ftm) I would do the same thing. In fact, I might even seek to do more damage than Sony did. boo hoo hoo for the losers.
Let's see how far any business gets by refusing to honor contracts. The only negative responses I've seen here are chronic complainer underdog types.
Let's see - how many different creative ways can you sell the banned products anyway ?
- Sell to another vendor not in US but close by, Canada eh?. Let ATI brand it and sell it to US, L-S still makes profit.
- Create new subsidiary, sell product to sub, sub calls product something else and sells to US. L-S still makes profit.
-
Instead, L-S throws up arms and says, "poor me, big bad bully come beat me up!" They make me sick, they deserve what they got and a whole lot worse. Pathetic losers.
Sony Is crap they have been crap for a while I woudl rather save my money and spend it on somethign cheaper and more well made which is pretty much everything.
Oh and By the Way Boycotting Sony also means boycotting their games as well *COUGH* Everquest *COUGH*
Anyways I haven't looked back and haven't really cared since I did it.
So what if I miss a few stupid movies.(I can still catch them when they come on cable since I am not really paying for them)
So what if I miss out on a few decent games that only come out for Playstation(and when I say few I mean few)
I don't seem to miss it and my pocket book really thanks me.
Ironically, my PS3 preorder has just been cancelled automatically - I had one with Lik-Sang since I'm in Europe and I could eBay a PS3 at a decent profit, but looks like Sony's not getting any of my money now.
Maybe I'm missing something but since this appears to be trade infraction at best, it doesn't seem to lead that Lik-Sang would need or could be forced to close. Sony suits were brought up in the UK so one would imagine, if Lik-Sang wanted they could simply fail to show up in court, default guilt, and therefor minimize financial impact. There upon, Lik-Sang could continue to conduct business as usual from HK and to all non-EU countries. Something smells fishy... either it's a PR stunt Or! creative business law aka close "Lik-Sang" and open new "Like-Sang" and resume business as usual until the next Sony suite.
Okay everybody, I know how we can bring Sony down. It'll work much faster than boycotting. Now, I'm going to start a donation paypal account for people to contribute to. Using that money, I'll just continuously keep buying PS3s without getting any actually software or video. Heheheheh...this'll syphen away their bottom line...
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
Another place I found it difficult to avoid Sony was a field I didn't even know sony was in -- batteries. My college campus sells sony batteries. I can spend my campus dollars (which expire at the end of the semester) on Sony batteries, but not Energizer or Duracell. Since the campus dollars disappear at the end of the semester, I can basically get sony batteries at no cost, or get a ride off campus to go pay out the nose for another company's batteries.
I do avoid Sony when I can. I bought a pair of really nice headphones last spring, and paid about $20 more for the Bose equivalent of something Sony made. When I buy CDs, I check the back to make sure it's not Sony BMG. I don't have a Playstation or PSP and probably never will. I'm avoiding BluRay, largely because of Sony's involvement.
I also think this business about Lik-Sang is pretty crazy. I once bought some Nintendo Gameboy games from Japan months before the US release. When they came out in the US, I bought them again so I could read the text. I don't see how Sony is possibly losing money to Lik-Sang importing games.
Yes, I would like to see a change in management at Sony, but frankly it's just not worth the cost of boycotting all of their products. If there were a large enough movement that Sony might actually take notice, I'd join in, but a few thousand nerds who take their business elsewhere (or nowhere) won't even be a blip on Sony's radar, so for now I avoid it when there's a decent alternative, but Sony still gets some of my business.
that shipment is likely to be on a massive container ship carrying merchandise from thousands of manufacturers.
OTOH hiring someone to throw a handful of low level radioactive stones into the PS3 shipping container could delay things a bit while homeland security rips the whole thing apart looking for nuclear weapons.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
...I wont be boycotting them. Killing a business like this really does suck in a big way, but I value Sony's fight against Microsoft to be more important. I instead ask that if you're buying a console next year, make it a PS3, or at the very least, a Wii... just not... you know... that other console.
Sony does do this type of thing anywhere near as much as Microsoft, and I resent MS literally trying to buy the game market... so, don't be boycotting Sony... for I think that in the long run it would be cutting your nose to spite your face.
If Sony loses the console war, all diversity in the market will be gone, and will effect far more companies than just lik-sang.
Lik-wang has always been more popular anyway
If Nintendo wanted this, then it would have been more explicit about Wii region coding or the lack thereof.
Lets see, can I boycott Sony? I bet I can!
* James Bond: Casino Royale - this may surprise you, but not all geeks think bond is the shit, I have never seen a Bond movie, not about to break that streak now.
* Open Season: I don't even know this is, but it sounds like a show about rednecks shooting deer and calling it manly.
* Monster House: Ooooooo, that sounded sooooooo entertaining.
* Spiderman 3: *yawn*
* Stranger Than Fiction: Wait, they made this movie? It _is_ stranger....
* The Da Vinci Code: Book sucked, movies are always shitty compared to books, therefore, the movie will blow an elephant.
* Zoom: HAHAHAHA! Please tell me, no one actuallhy paid money to see this, or wasted a blank DVD to steal this?
* The King of Queens: Yeah, a TV show about a big fat guy with a hot wife..... or did I mix that up with the other incredably insiteful and enjoyable show about a big fat guy with a hot wife?
* JEOPARDY!: Alright, I found one thing I might miss, did I mention I don't have cable, or dish?
* Wheel of Fortune: What am I? 70 years old?
* Ripley's Believe It or Not!: I can't believe this is still on the air.
* Dragon Tales: Again, wtf is this? I realize not having a TV limits my exposure, but wtf is this?
* The Boondocks: You kidding? When I go someplace, and this show is on, I hurl large, dense objects at the screen.
Okay, looks like I am all set for my Sony Boycott. I am changing absolutely none of my spending habits. Oh, and I don't own any sony hardware either.
Now, would I have cared to bother with any of this had a boycott required me to do so? Not bloody likely, I just to point out that Sony's products suck.
--Nuintari
slashdot : where an opinion can be wrong.
Yellow Dog Linux is coming out for the PS3. Buying one and using it exclusively as a linux PC would work pretty well if you want to cost Sony some cash. :)
And FreeCiv is probably better than most of the launch games.
I quit!
Might it have something to do with 1. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and similar judicial review cases in the United States, and 2. the fact that judges are generally less subject to influence by campaign contributors than legislators?
Buying used games won't be profitable if the majority of your favorite franchises move to node-locked sales over PS3 Marketplace. It's about time Wii switch to different franchises.
Lik-Sang is awesome!! I can't believe this crap. We need to write sony an angry letter.
---- "Excuse me. Where's the children's gun section?"
Most companies realize that if you give the customers what they want, they will continue to give you money. Dell knows that if they keep making the kinds of computers they are making now, people will keep buying Dells. Walmart knows that if they keep offering stuff really really cheap, people will keep comming back to walmart instead of going elsewhere.
Sony on the other hand has fallen into a trap that a number of companies are in (or have been in) where making huge profits is more important that doing what the customers want (and therefore getting their customers to come back).
Most of the companies that follow the "screw the customers" model have a monopoly (or something close enough to one) and can get away with it since there is really no other choice (for example, Microsoft, Verizon etc) but Sony is probobly going to find that it wont work for them in this case.
Well,i for sure dislike them every day more and more... I think that they lost touch with reality completely..
Bill Gates said:"I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine" My favorite number is 09 F9 11 02 9D 74
"Lik-Sang did not contest this case (i.e. they did not turn up and therefore incurred no legal costs). We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid," the statement claims. "We would therefore strongly deny that our actions have had anything to do with this website closing (we assume the legal entity is still trading), and would suggest that this release is sour grapes on behalf of Lik-Sang which is aimed to belittle Sony Computer Entertainment and the British judicial system that found against them."
The mention of "substantial costs" suggests the size of the judgment may have been what caused Lik-Sang to close its doors.
RichM
Data Center Knowledge
Sorry, but Sony ran out of customer goodwill long ago. The flames you see are from the piles of returned batteries, combined with marketing spin for an updraft.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Sony continues to live down to it's reputation.
I remember when the name meant technical excellence. Pity. And it's taken less than a decade to come to this: the lawsuit model of business. Well, may their prospects be as bright as those of SCO.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
with those $100+ shoes.
Sucker.
While I was living in China I was having trouble finding all the new PSP games that were coming out. I ended up ordering several games and some screen protectors through Lik-Sang. They were quick to ship and had great customer service. When one of my packages was held by the Chinese government for inspection, Lik-Sang notified me before the shipping company did. I don't fully understand why Sony would take such heavy-handed actions against a reputable internet retailer who helps gamers around the world buy Sony products? In some parts of the world it's hard to find games even if they are sold there, Lik-Sang was providing a great service to those who were in such situations. Oh well, one more reason I won't be buying their macro-priced PS3. Sony, did you really think this would help you in a PR sense? I hope you get your ass handed to you by the Wii and the 360. Oh, and to hell with Bluray...I won't be jumping on that ship either.
Acting like criminals? Oh, you mean like Apple selling products with viruses pre-loaded, and saying it's MS's fault? Very few companies handle this kind of thing correctly. Tylenol did in the 1980's with the poisoning scare. Most companies act the way that Sony and Apple did.
I own about 5 original PS + PS2 games! I'm what Sony calls, a pirate.
Don't worry. I'm still getting a PS3 with all of the bells and whistles. I don't know who who what "Lik Sang" is, nor do I care. There's absolutely no (well thought out) reason, that I can see, to boycott Sony.
Now Apple, that's another story, altogether. Between their sweatshops and the price gouging and their blaming MS for virus-ridden iPods, I won't spend a nickel on any Apple products.
I wear prescription sunglasses, which cost a small fortune, stand up to anything, and have to be comfortable because I can't see shit without them.
Just out of curiosity, where do you get them, or what brand are they? (The frames, particularly, but lenses also if they're not from the same company and you know.) Do you know the manufacturer or anything else?
I'm in the market for Rx sunglasses and I've been holding off because I just don't know how to make sure that I get good ones. One of the reasons people continue to buy brand-name goods is because it's a known quantity (and quality). Oakleys probably aren't great, but they're not total crap either; in the absence of any other information I'd probably end up buying them because at least I know they're "better than the spinny rack."
I have been thinking of WileyX frames and lenses because they have a decent reputation among the Rx-wearing police and military folks I've talked to (they've been described to me as "Oakleys, but with balls"), but I'd be interested to hear what some other people's experiences are.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Sure the CEOs could take a cut and pass the savings down the line but that just isn't going to happen. CEOs make X times as much as the average employee but there are usually more than X times as many employees as CEOs.
What always happens however, when the low to middle class gets a government mandated pay raise (hiking minimum wage), is that prices go up because everything now costs more to make. Machines replace humans because machines are cheaper. Humans used to be cheaper but they kept demanding a government mandated raise. Now those people get nothing and a machine is doing their job and they have to find something else to do.
The better solution is to keep minimum wage down to keep prices down and if you want to go the "high road" move up pay so you can afford the goods that you couldn't afford as a minimum wage lacky.
Minimum wage jobs are for teenagers who can afford the "high road" on minimum wage because they don't have bills to pay. They do the low paying jobs to learn work skills. If you are trying to live off of minimum wage then something is seriously wrong. Society is stupid however and has completely forgotten what minimum wage was for: to prevent sweatshops. Not to live off of.
If the minimum wage keeps going up you're going to need a degree to justify being hired to flip burgers at such a high hourly wage. And either only one $20 an hour (about what it takes to live comfortably in a city) person is going to be doing the work of 4 people (so 3 people are fired/never hired so you can be paid) or the price of your food is going to be 4 times as much. I can just imagine having to pay $10 for a Whopper.
Cheap labor == cheap products. Cheap labor is for teenagers. You should have stopped making minimum wage long before you were solely responsible for living expenses. If you just can't move up then that's life. You're not entitled to anything. You have to work for it.
Work Safe Porn
get the word out, no more sony products! don't buy the PS3, spread the word! Sony DVD players are not what they used to be anyway.
My sony dvd player died when it was not even 1 year old. No more! I bought a cheapo from radio shack and it's been working fine for 4 years now. No more SONY. No More SONY. Lik Sang was a cool company. I hope tehy bounce back from this and start something else up.
and fight them with satire humor and MASS PUBLICITY. Someone talented needs to make a funny video that will get 10 million hits from google. THAT will hit Sony where it hurts, in the AD CAMPAIGN. They make money by default, give everyone somthing to laugh at them for and they will make another brand the COOL one and SONY will feel it. Not only would a VIRAL video hit them here in the US, but world wide exposure. The thing the CORPS fear the MOST IN THE WORLD IS INFORMATION. It is how they control us, using their game against them is the MOST EFFECTIVE TOOL.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
I definitely agree with you; what I don't understand is what part of U.K. law Sony used to go after Lik-Sang and other importers.
It's pretty clear that grey-market importation is legal in the United States (heck, companies like B&H Photo do it all the time; sometimes you can even choose between the Grey and U.S. version of the same item), so I don't think the same thing could happen here unless Sony really wanted to buy Congress. Not that we didn't get close -- the USSC decision was 5-4 in favor of the gray market's "parallel importation," so it could have been different.
What's very odd to me is that people in the U.K. seem to tolerate their laws being used against them in such a self-defeating fashion. I was stunned when I went to England last, how much everything cost there even compared to Europe. It's bizarre that such a situation is allowed to exist given the ease of moving goods across the Channel. It's only through the tacit approval of a lot of people in the U.K. that this situation remains. If I were a U.K. politician, this seems like it would be a no-brainer issue to jump on. Nobody likes knowing that they're getting screwed by a bunch of foreigners, but yet as a country they're practically bending over and asking for it.
Maybe there's some benefit to the laws that are being (ab)used this way that I'm not seeing, but really it just seems like the U.K.-ers get hosed as a result of their own legal system.
Is there some sort of benefit to the U.K. of the laws prohibiting parallel importation? Or is the government there even more thoroughly bought by the multinational corporations than it is here?
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Substituting movie X from Sony with movie Y from Columbia/Tristar would not be pointless because of non-fungibility, it would be pointless because Columbia/Tristar IS Sony.
Stick with Disney...unless you are boycotting them because, you know, most of their video games suck.
It all started with George Michael. S*ny Raping him with a f*ck*d up record deal =( But took a nice shot at them with the chrome headset reflecting Fony. I hated Sony, now I hate them even more, because I ordered a lot from Lik-Sang. It was an excelent online game store. Their monthly news letter was ver informative.
bah
Check my site: http://pixel.pagina.nl
I purchased my Ceramic White PSP Gigapack from Lik-Sang about this time last year. Normally, I import through Play-Asia, but they had more of the accessories I wanted in stock at the time. Lik-Sang closing its doors is a shame, but beyond that, Sony's claims are a sham. They claim to be protecting consumers...by denying them what they want. You don't import a game or console by ACCIDENT. You do it because you want it. Why don't consumers have the right to buy whatever the hell version they want? And the other parts of this claim are just ludicrous. The PSP, for instance, ships with a universal charger. If the charger doesn't carry the proper certifications (Which it does), that seems more like a Sony problem...since it's the same damned power supply they sell in EVERY LOCALE. Also, Lik-Sang provides with the merchandise, paperwork describing the certifications the product carries, for customs reasons.
I imported my PSP for two reasons: I liked the white one, and it wasn't out in the states. And I already had a bunch of anime on UMD (Included as a bonus with DVDs) that were Region 2. It made no sense for me not to import, and in fact, even if the white PSP had been available in the US at the time, and putting aside the UMD regions...I would have still paid a (slight) premium to import it. All my games are Japanese, and the US accessories suck. (My Hori Portable Pouch Style beats it all for PSP carrying.) Is Sony saying I don't deserve to buy their products?
When I get a Playstation 3-- which I am still going to do despite Sony's bullshit --it will be a Japanese model. If I have to buy it in fecking Akiba myself because they've shut down every importer, so be it. While I'm there, I'll pay the SCEJ offices a visit (Shopping bag still in-hand) and ask them about it.
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
Like that would do much of anything, and besides, I bet a good ammount of you pirated it anyways.
And as for those saying "SEND HIM 5BUX," yeah right.
I don't know about the USA release but my Canadian release here has both a CD and a DVD. No "Compact Disc Digital Audio" logo anywhere, though. On the other hand, my Mac didn't have any trouble at all with the "CD" and acted as if it were a regular audio CD. No idea if it causes any problem on Windows systems.
I buy games from regular stores or typical online e-tailers (best-buy etc).
Is Lik-Sang really vital to the distribution of games? Why has Sony sued them? Is there any validity to Sony's lawsuits?
It always hurts to see the little guy crushed, but was this a warranted lawsuit?
"I have an odd craving to whisper about those few frightful hours in that ill-rumored and evilly shadowed seaport of dea
My question is:
Why the hell does a Hong Kong-based company give a rat's ass about what a UK court says?
Disclaimer: I don't play games for some 3 years. Never had console. And possibly will never have.
It is your rights to call a boycott, giving fingers to Sony, claiming it was illegal, saying that they will pay for their lesson.
But listen.
They did EVERYTHING legal. They protected THEIR trademark. For your information, all consoles, mobile phones, etc. electronic stuff should qualified to be used in EU and UK. Yeah, you can cry that Sony will rise prices for EU units, but blame them about THAT, but not about trademark.
They should be responsible about stuff what is sold under their trademark and name in Europe. Otherwise they can get in very hot water and no thousand geeks will help them.
Anyway, go back to your computers, consoles, CD players, tvs which propably has lot of Sony stuff inside. Yeah, I know, it is ironic and kinda sad, but Sony is BIG. Very BIG.
And believe me, PS3 will succeed. Again, how ironic.
Next time Apple will protect their trademark, you will trash all your iPods too? And how about Windows, maybe after such ignorance from Bill Gates and Balmer you should dump it? No? Need to do everyday's work?
user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
There's also the fine cause of Folding@Home, and this time next year there will be plenty of used games and movies available.
Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
I don't know why everyone is whining about Sony. Nintendo busted Lik-Sang for selling Gameboy copy devices. MS, Sony AND Nintendo busted them for modchips. Sony busted them for grey imports. Fact is that every console maker had the knives out for Lik-Sang. It may well be that they were a decent e-tailer (they were when I ordered some stuff) but they sure as hell rubbed up the console makers the wrong way. I guarantee that none of them feels the slightest sympathy for Lik-Sang. If it wasn't Sony it would have been Microsoft or Nintendo. Quit ragging with the "Boycott Sony" bullshit unless you intend to boycott the other games consoles too.
True, but the second hand market still indirectly puts money in their pockets - people pay more for games because they know they can sell them and recover some of that money, a lot of people treat buying games as long-term rental.
First of all, I can't believe Lik-Sang would roll over for this... HK is no longer under British rule, so unless the Chinese Government tells them to stop, Sony can sod off. Second, the amount of questionable retailers in China is simply astonishing. Lik-Sang should open up shop as Li-Song in China with a copy of their customer database.
Duly noted; I did indeed misunderstand.
For whatever reason, I somehow equated "HD-DVD" with "Sony" when I should have been binding "Blu-Ray" to "Sony" instead.
I suppose that in your case, you really do now have no choice in your upgrade path.
You say "the cause" as though the guy was saying "The Cause" with a capital 'C'.
The cause in this context would be that of boycotting Sony. They have been pulling the most inane crap over the last few years, the most important of which being the rootkit scandal (and, arguably, a less important matter being that of the blurb - do remember that's not the sole context in this thread anymore by the time the gp hit "submit").
If you put a rootkit on a bunch of people's computers and this was exposed to the public, would you expect to get away without criminal charges?
To me, a boycot is a good way of getting the ball rolling on imposing sanctions on Sony, and show that even the biggest megacorporation is not above moral responsibility. Hopefully the Law (or rather the laws of various countries) will come along and put some people in jail. In the meantime, kick them in the sack by denying them your part of the revenue stream.
making fun of sony products, and spashing them to pieces
100000 sony sux videos would make the point
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Lik Sang claim to be out of business for defending the court case but they didn't show up at court ala the recent spamhaus case.
Are you trying to boycott their most entertaining movies, and yet don't want to give them your dollars? Just buy a ticket to another flick with a similar timeslot and hop into the one you're boycotting. This way, the theater doesn't lose out on your business (you paid your admission), but the figures come back to Sony as nada.
SKC
"Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
It's less "Sony is bad for suing Lik-Sang at all" and more "Sony is bad for suing them for more bullshitty reasons."
You forget, we're boycotting Disney already because they keep getting copyright extended so the mouse doesn't become public domain... That's not a viable solution either. I think Time Warner is fairly independent and hasn't done anything extremely customer-hostile that really stands out, if you're looking for alternatives...
I always find it funny that a corporation like Sony can go ahead and sue someone like Lik-Sang because the stuff that Lik-Sang sells can be (and is) used for pirating yet the Sony's of the world continue to sell blank media that can be (and is) used for pirating.
Besides boycotting Sony, maybe people could donate money to Lik Sang and buy some of those mugs and badge holders they sell and become a visible supporter of Lik Sang. Just a thought. ---- Khan: "I will leave you as you left me... stuck in the West without Lik Sang" Kirk: "KAHN!!!!!!!!!!!"
That's too bad. No illegal importing for you. Looks like you need to burn the Sony witch. Anything that brings down teh mighty Soneh, huh?
How do you feel about a $700 screw in you're coffin? PS when's Motorstorm?
I'll continue to buy used games and consoles.
Of course I'm part of the disappearing middle-class so I'm really not eroding their bottom line any
but if a majority of consumers opted to wait for used consoles I'm SONY would feel the love.
Cheers
Every new form of media has it's own Requirimento
Wow, this got modded "Overrated"? Is it because he suggested to buy the PS3? Seems like we have fanboy moderators in our midst.
I wonder if these fanboys are Xbox fanboys. If they are, then it would be ironic to buy 360s since Microsoft is still the evil corporation holding a monopoly on OSs.
There is some classic irony here.
Everquest 2:EoF (an expansion pack for the EQ2 game) isn't being released as a box set for the OS market. This means the ROTW (rest of the world) have to either get the digital download (if they don't care about all the usual extras that go with a boxed edition like collectables, maps, manuals, etc) or we have to import a boxed set from the US.
Another irony is that over the years Sony has "leaned" on online retailers like EB, Amazon, et al so they won't ship to Australia (even though we have a FTA with the US), so we have to go to even extra effort to track down a smaller online retailer to get it sent here.
Way to go Sony, your management is so incompetent they even fuck up fucking up, that's quite an achievement.
Even though there was no way that the UK/Euro govt. would have allowed the continuous sale of PS3's from Japan/America to be resold by a legit. online retailer thereby skipping out on import duties, customs regulations, and that bloody stupid VAT tax. Then there's the retailers themselves who would sue Sony, and depending on their contracts with them, possibly win. And then, of course, there's the fact that all the corps. besides Sony who push for seperate regions on movie materials would have formed a lynch mob. But this is /., so we'll just ignore any realities of the situation at hand.
fuck sony. they're done, they have been for a while now. Nintendo is the only one left that focuses on innovation,and even they suck at it.
sue this company before for infringing on their rights. In 2003 NINTENDO, that's right, NINTENDO sued Lik-Sang for selling devices enabling people to copy Game Boy Games. In 2002, Sony (the "evil" empire), Nintendo, and Microsoft all banded together to file suit against Lik-sang for selling mod-chips. So, please, before you go about spouting how Sony is the only one who's responsible for putting this company out of business, and how evil they are, and how you'll boycott them to the point that even your children won't be able to own anything with a Sony branded microchip/dial/button on it, please, type in "Lik-Sang sued" into your google search bar. Read about the company's past before you make stupid comments. over 14,000 links to stories.
Never monkey with another monkey's monkey.
From Sony's response to the Lik Sang Announcement:
" We would also like to express our surprise at a company releasing personal information about its consumers, as this is contrary to data protection principles around the world."
Maybe it's just me, but Sony has absolutely no room to talk about "principles" after the rootkit fiasco with their music CDs earlier this year. Sony wouldn't even let you download the patch to remove the rootkit without first giving them a bunch of personal information - information that is completely irrelevant the problem Sony created in the first place by adding a rootkit to their CDs.
Perhaps Sony should spend less time worrying about an importer and start worrying about bigger issues - such as the recall of 8 million batteries and counting, continued delays of Blu-Ray players, PS3 production issues, and public sentiment that seems to be mounting against Sony and their entire product line...
Japanese PS3s may not be certified (the CE mark) for Europe, don't run at the proper voltage (requiring an enormous step-down converter) and don't play European regional content (DVDs, games, BDs). They might have an English language setting and they might allow the timezone to be set but that's all you can hope for. Even the online functionality may be horked since you probably have to register (and read Japanese) with a Japanese address and credit card to get going. Even if you got through all that you'd have lots of Japanese buddies, horrific lag and a subpar experience.
I guess Sony is worried for a many reasons - a) that Lik-Sang will bleed the market that these things are meant to be sold in (e.g. if 5000 consoles go to the EU that's 5% of their local launch market gone), b) that the devices will be dead money since people will buy the console and maybe a occasional of games but leave the online aspect alone c) Lik-Sang will slip the dead / fried / bricked PS3s back into the Japanese supply chain and burden Sony with the costs.
The PSP really doesn't have many of these issues. I bought a PSP on a trip to Canada. I had no intention of paying rip-off prices for the movies, so it worked fine for me. The charger works on a range of voltages and is CE certified. Aside from UMD region protection on movies, there isn't much else that distinguishes one PSP from another. I even bought my USB / charger cable & memory stick from Lik-Sang. However I did drop the thing and break the UMD drive and discovered that my US/Canada warranty was worth precisely nothing in Europe. I had to repair the thing myself.
Umm.. except that those were all good reasons to get angry. This time Sony has a BS reason to sue. They stated that Lik-Sang shouldn't be allowed to import because the devices could be dangerous if used in a different country because of the power-supply. Well, seeing as they ship the same P/S with every unit around the world, that's pretty much BS. They site safety concerns, which this case has nothing to do with. In the other cases, it was a lot easier to prove that Lik-Sang was doing shady stuff, reselling PSPs and other consoles, wasn't in the same ballpark.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
Sony didn't protect their trademark. They protected their regional lockouts while dragging their own trademark through the mud, as evidenced by all the angry comments on every site that reported this.
You said you don't have consoles or play games, and it seems you missed some key points, so I'll explain a bit:
Sony HATES importers, and always has, because they want people in Japan to buy from SCEJ, North America to buy from SCEA, and Europe from SCEE, (Sony Computer Entertainment Japan/America/Europe) so that each national branch knows how well a game did in a given region, and so each Sony branch can support itself on profits from its respective region without, say, taking a transfer from SCEJ to compensate for imports (which they can't track.) To this end, they cripple their hardware to pretend it can't read disks from a mismatched region in much the same way DVD players do. There ARE different TV standards in some countries, but to a knowledgable importer this is never a major issue (nor does it apply to PSPs.)
Strangely enough, the PSP does not check region codes on games, yet they sued Lik-Sang on the false pretense that by offering the customers PSPs from another region, they were HARMING the customers, and the court bought it! The only way their argument could possibly be true is if the different electrical mains standards were different enough to fry the hardware - and guess what? The PSP I bought at launch came with an adapter that works on everything from 120V, 60Hz to 240V, 50Hz. I could fly to Europe today and plug my PSP in, and it would work the same as a European model - it just wouldn't play European UMD movies because a single byte in the firmware doesn't match up with the disc. The customers who imported them would tell you that rather than Lik-Sang harming them, Sony were being bastards toward Europe as usual by making them wait forever for a console that doesn't even use a different display standard this time!
Lik-Sang, assuming you had a console, was a goldmine of hard to find and incredibly useful items such as the SmartJoy adapter (to play console FPSes with a keyboard and mouse), handheld-to-TV adapters, LCD-compatible lightguns, etc. These things could always be found at small HK gaming specialty shops, but Lik-Sang was the best organized, best stocked, and most reputable of them all (really without contest or viable competition.) For a typical order from them, you might have to investigate (with background checks to ensure you're not scammed) 50 HK game shops, and order from 5-10 just to get all the parts and games you wanted. Sony squashed this gaming resource basically in order to protect their antiquidated accounting practices, by successfully suing Lik-Sang for something that was NEVER ILLEGAL BEFORE THIS. This is a very bad precedent for console gamers, and so even if Lik-Sang wasn't loved by so many, it would still be quite chilling that Sony got away with such a flaky argument in court.
The real reason, the one that isn't BS, is that Sony has the right to control distribution in the region. If they want to require distributors to be licensed with them, that's within their legal right. Lik-Sang obviously wasn't, and not only that, Lik-Sang was in the grey market -- importation of those foreign goods into that region without license. Selling Sony's stuff from another country there wasn't exactly legal. That's why they got sued. Of course, if you've seen the gamesindustry.biz article, Lik-Sang didn't even show up to court, paid no legal fees and hasn't paid the judgement -- they just closed up shop. It probably IS sour grapes as Sony said, as they did the same thing when Nintendo sued them a few years ago. They tucked tail and ran so they wouldn't be subject to punishment, and then came back later when nobody noticed.
http://www.thisiswaiting.com/
"'d rather not shop at walmart, but I can't afford to spend 100 dollars more per month by going "the high road"."
Walmart is actually a relatively expensive place to shop. It's a last resort for me, frankly. For anything that isn't bulky, Amazon is cheaper...by a lot. With free shipping and no tax.
For food? Nope.
This myth of Walmart and low prices is one that has me stumped, because if you do any kind of minimal comparison shopping, it's obvious that it's not cheapest or even cheaper than other stores. As I told my wife, Walmart must appeal to lower class people who don't have access to the internet.
To those that think "grey market" is a bad, evil thing, take a good look at that PC you're typing on. If it wasn't for Compaq reverse-engineering the first IBM PC the computer industry as we know it would look extremely different, if exist at all. And those grey market mods for consoles are NO DIFFERENT than the add-ons we have for PCs today.
Sony going out and suing companies that make parts for their hardware is no different that if Dell started suing Bios manufacturers.
"On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
Problem with sunglasses is that when you cut the lenses, and put them in the bath to stain them dark, they lose some of their corrective power, and the strength of the lens doesn't seem to degrade at any predictable rate. So most places that sell prescription shades are very reluctant to make glasses too strong, then put them in the stain bath. If they come out too strong, you'll be back in in a month complaining of severe headaches. You might have some luck if you ask, or see about getting the magnetic clip on shades. They are very slim, and near immpossible to tell that you aren't wearing shades once they are attached. Good Luck.
--Nuintari
slashdot : where an opinion can be wrong.