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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.
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?
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.
Not to mention acting like criminals themselves by lying about the their exploding batteries. Most recently, they pulled batteries from their VAIO notebooks after trying to pin the blame on Dell, Toshiba, HP, etc. They had to admit that it was their own fault. Sorta. But then they said "Well, it could happen if the user bumps it." and "It could happen if the user misuses the laptop." What??? Aren't we talking about metal shavings being where they're not supposed to? What does that have to do with consumer use (or misuse) of the laptop?
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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.
No, but Sony's win sets precedent for future lawsuits. Sony could in turn sue Lik-Sang for PS2 and PS3 sales. Then Nintendo could do the same thing. Better for them to get out now than face more lawsuits.
Consumers are sheep.
You can call some people sheep all of the time, and you can call all people sheep some of the time, but you can't call all people sheep all of the time (yes, even Republicans...).
I, my good people, am Nike-Free going on 8 years. They definitely have the largest range of nice sportswear, but their business practices turn my stomach and close my wallet. Just have to decide to do it.
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
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
I don't think that's the point, though. It illustrates a problem that no one posting here has yet resolved; how do you make people want to boycott a company that has so many hands in so many different parts of the entertainment industry (to the point that it's hard to tell where their influence ends, as evidenced by this thread)?
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.
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.
The other option is that if you're going to buy something, buy it used. Technically it adds a slight value to things if they're more re-sellable, but none of your money will go directly back to them.
~Warning!~ The above is encrypted using rot676!
What did they do anyway that was so illegal or wrong?
I don't know about EU law, but US law makes it illegal to import trademarked items (even if they are real) for resale without the trademark owner's (written) permission 0 if the owner is a US citizen or corporation. In effect, corporations with US operations can limit the gray market importation of their products if they have a US subsidiary. There are personal use exemptions - i.e. I can buy a Rolex in Switzerland and bring it to the US; since Congress amended the law to allow for personal use exemptions after they discovered that people were buying things overseas for their own us only to be faced with customs seizure when they got back.
In effect, it protects the US company's ability to exclusively market their goods - whether or not that is a good thing is a different story. Of course, the US sub is glad to sell as much of its product to tourists or whomever and let the other region's distributes worry about their lost sales.
Of course, companies can limit the profitability of the gray market by minimizing price differences around the world, although currency fluctuations will always open up arbitrage opportunities; and selling products widely instead of limiting some to specific regions. They also try to limit it by not offering world wide warranties; or, in the case of some car manufacturers, requiring you to agree to not export the vehicle within a certain amount of time after purchase.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
And besides, if the PS3 crashes and burns it'll hit the only profitable part of Sony where it hurts. Sony will have to offload most of its entertainment content to stay afloat, so all you need to do is boycott the PS3. That's not so hard to do because it costs $600.
I had someone explain to me once why an American Sony boycott wouldn't work: Sony already makes most of their money in Asia. If the *Japanese* boycotted Sony en masse, you'd see the company making some changes. The US market for Sony comes after the Asian and European markets -- it's a dumping market, really; just like US products get dumped in other parts of the world.
I wear presctiption sunglasses, which cost a small fortune, stand up to anything, and have to be comfortable because I can't see shit without them. Let me assure you, Oakleys and Ray-Bans are _not_ a high quality product. Better than the spinny rack? Yes. But that doesn't mean they aren't junk.
--Nuintari
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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 ?
Depends... a pure capitalistic system is determined to doom, the end of capitalism usually is fascism due to a single monopoly or an oligarchic monopoly of konglomerates having enough wealth to dominate over the government (a system as close to stalinistic communism as you can get because those systems althoug coming from different roots always are the same in the end) Hence deregulation and splitting of monopolistic companies is a must of every capitalistic society to survive in the long term. The problem we have currently on a worldwide scale is that sometimes in the 80s and 90s and even now the deregulation mechanisms have heavily failed in case of many multinational corporations. They have outgrown the governments to a certain degree and we are on the road to the end of capitalism towards a oligarchic dictatorship. In some points we have crossed the line already, like we can see how things are pushed down onto national levels which clearly hurt local economies and even worse the environment (genetically enhanced food for instance, which in the end can result in a worldwide famine if things go wrong, or the patent law going haiwire, or the globalisation which only works once it comes to labor but is suddenly stopped with trials and local regulations once it comes down to international competition in selling goods) In some points we have not crossed the line... But as I said we are on a dangerous road into something we will be called capitalism but will not have anything to do with it and which will be closer to other systems of the past.
Actually, I've read somewhere that if there is too much cushioning, injuries are more likely.
Apparently, the cushioning makes it more difficult for the brain to figure out how to position the ankles to reduce injury risk.