Slashdot Mirror
Sony PlayStation 3 Imports Temporarily Banned In Europe
tekgoblin writes "Looks like Sony is in some trouble in Europe. LG recently complained about Sony and filed a US patent dispute over their Blu-ray technology. Now they have been granted a preliminary injunction in the matter in Europe. This injunction prevents the PlayStation 3 from currently being imported to Europe. For at least the next 10 days, every PlayStation that is imported will be seized by government officials."
Karma, much? Your tight grip of copyright and patents are biting you in the ass now.
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
-- Steve Jobs
Maybe this is what Mr. Jobs was thinking of?
. . . . fuck Sony
Do you have a cite for this? Reason I ask is, from what I read Sony tried this with PS2 Linux and their attempt at tax exemption was rejected by the EU. I could not find anything definitive on Google either way.
Some incorrectly speculate it was used as an attempt to help classify the PS2 as a computer to achieve tax exempt status from certain EU taxes that apply to game consoles and not computers (It was the Yabasic included with EU units that was intended to do that).[citation needed] Despite this, Sony lost the case in June 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_for_PlayStation_2
Of course, that also says "citation needed"...
How can it be imported if it's already in Europe?
Not weird really. The injunction is against Sony, not the merchant that is selling them.
There is a war going on for your mind.
Agreed.
If anybody from Sony reads this: GO FUCK YOURSELF.
More like "Anonymous Idiot." Do you really think the OP was encouraging Sony to put the PS3s which are on container ships on eBay? Here's a clue: supply and demand. The supply has just dried up, at least for a week and a half. If you're a European PS3 owner, this might present a selling opportunity via eBay.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Well since the tax was repealed prior to the release of Linux (for Playstation 2) in 2002 or YDL on the PS3, it's obviously not that reason. I think one of the SCEfoo folks said it was Yabasic and not Linux, on the PS2 Linux boards some years ago.
This is not the first time Khyber has promulgated this incorrect information.
Why do you keep promulgating this incorrect fact? Any PS2/PS3 Linux user knows it's not the case, since the tax was repealed prior to Linux (for Playstation 2)'s release in May of 2002, and was most certainly not the case for the PS3 in 2006.
It annoys me to no end when Slashdotters make all sorts of statements and claims about Linux on the PS2 and PS3...and who have obviously never actually done so themselves.
I bet they are going to put Linux on them a build a giant cluster.
Oh, wait...
AccountKiller
Royalties and settlements are usually how it happens. The injunctions aren't to stop the device from existing.. they simply freeze transactions on it until a hearing determines what royalties if any are owed. It's only when the offending party refuses to adhere to these royalties and continues profiting from someone else's invention without permission that a cease and desist is issued and/or product is destroyed..
(slightly redundant) I have to agree with you. Patents were introduced to stimulate innovation and research but all it really does today is stimulate the front pockets of lawyers. I want to say "why after so many years have they decided to wait and sue Sony?" but Sony does sue pretty much everyone so I don't feel that bad or care for the reason why LG waited so long.
Patents now last so long and have been around for so long that you can't build anything anymore without using someone elses invention. Ever heard of "If I seen furthest, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants"? Well, with the patent system that is, "If I sold the most gadgets it is because I paid off everyone else".
Worse, once patents were real physical products that had to be specific enough to make an actual product from them, you could LOOK at a patent and work around it. But now that concepts have become valid patents, you can't. So rather then a screw being patented, the very idea of fixing to things together is patented so it doesn't matter if you come up with completely new system for doing it, a better system, a more efficient system, you are STILL infringing. EXACTLY what the patent system was NOT supposed to do. It was supposed to encourage invention. Patent on the diesel engine? Make a petrol engine. A LOT of combustion engine tech early on was developed to get around patents, so we got lots of different engines and the market could then pick the most efficient for their use.
Sony and others are however so tied to the current patent system they cannot let it go even if it is killing them. Why not? Without the patent system, Sony would be Sony'ed. What is that? Sony was once a toy maker from Japan. Making crap copies cheaply before SLOWLY improving them. Well, if you call the re-creation of the Japanese economy post WW2 slow.
A complex patent system favors the big companies who can use their patent portfolio as weapons. Remove it, and ANYONE can compete. You wouldn't have needed a billion dollar company to launch a new phone OS, a couple of hackers could have done it. The billions of Google are not for development cost, but legal team costs.
The patent system needs reform but the mayor players are all so indebt to it, that it would take an outsider to break it up. Maybe China can do it. They gain nothing from the patent system and if Western society continues to collapse (not actually building anything anymore except patents) then China might loose interest in pretending to obey the system.
Something needs to change before all progress is gone to countries where you can still spend more money on development then on lawyers.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
48 million consoles.
69 million PSN accounts. 17 million PlayStation Home accounts.
4 million MOVE controllers.
The PS3 Slim was introduced in 2009.
Meaning that more than half of all PS3 consoles have been sold without so much as a whisper of support for the OtherOS, SACD, or PS2 emulation.
On the other hand, the five year old PS3 remains feature competitive with high end DVD and Blu-Ray players.
It supports 1080p Netflix streams with 5.1 theater surround sound.
It supports Hulu Plus in HD.
It supports Sony's new Music Unlimited service. 6 million tracks. $4-$10/mo.
--- and it plays games.
These are the features which sell the product.
I have yet to see anyone post hard numbers - credible numbers - for Linux installs or homebrew gaming on the PS3.
I would not be in the least surprised if there were more kids watching their twentieth re-play of "Monsters vs Aliens" in stereographic 3D on their Dad's Bravia HDTV.
This is so dangerous that LG seems a second SCO to me. If Sony doesn't want to settle and LG loses (which is probable, since those are US patents in a EU court), they'll have to pay a huge amount of money to Sony for this seizure.