dimsum411
October 24th, 2006, 11:56 AM
Asian Import Specialist forced out of Business by SONY?
Asian console import specialist 'Lik-Sang' has today announced that it has been forced out of business by SONY. The retailer will not be in a position to accept any new orders and will refund all orders awaiting to be processed fully. Sony claimed that the import specialist had infringed on multiple trademarks, copyrights and more following the sale of Sony PSP's from Asia to Europe. This seems more than extreme and perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye...
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=11248
I don't know if this is true, but wtf. Sony is an evil corporation. A London judge deemed Lik-Sang.com's sale of PSP's illegal. I've never personally ordered from Lik-Sang, but I know a lot of people who used the site exclusively for imports and other things as well. Why is Sony so anal retentive about keeping their consoles on their respective shores?
original announcement (it's true)
http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901
The legal battle with Sony over Lik-Sang's legitimate exporting activities started during August 2005. Sony complained about the sales of PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems to Europe and launched a lawsuit in the High Court of Hong Kong, arguing that Lik-Sang advertises the Sony products "in a dishonest manner" and "unlawfully interferes with Sony's economical interests". They further launched a completely separate lawsuit against the Hong Kong based company in the courts of England for selling PSP consoles to customers in Europe and the UK, and also for mirroring the freely available PSP user guides on their servers alleging copyright infringement.
...
"Fighting multiple lawsuits in different countries at the same time and paying high premiums to expensive lawyers is an overwhelming situation for a small company like Lik Sang. Launching separate court actions with separate claims and different judges is completely unnecessary, except for the fact that it helps reaching one single target: outspend Lik-Sang to death. Pay beyond", said Pascal Clarysse, Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com, clearly annoyed by the unfair situation. "And contrary to their claim, I don't believe they are suffering 'losses and damages' through Lik-Sang's activity".
What's the point of creating a region free product, and then creating a fuss about imported units? It's not like these sales are hurting the PSP's dwindling figures. There has got to be more to this story. The importation of PS3 consoles to EU has already declared illegal without getting permission from Sony first. And many people know about the cancelation of the pre-PS3 auctions (http://news.softpedia.com/news/PS3-Auctions-Canceled-on-eBay-38087.shtml)on e-bay. This is a classic case of an industry giant bullishly mistreating its power and influence by taking on a small business in order to send a message, and it's wrong.
Asian console import specialist 'Lik-Sang' has today announced that it has been forced out of business by SONY. The retailer will not be in a position to accept any new orders and will refund all orders awaiting to be processed fully. Sony claimed that the import specialist had infringed on multiple trademarks, copyrights and more following the sale of Sony PSP's from Asia to Europe. This seems more than extreme and perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye...
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=11248
I don't know if this is true, but wtf. Sony is an evil corporation. A London judge deemed Lik-Sang.com's sale of PSP's illegal. I've never personally ordered from Lik-Sang, but I know a lot of people who used the site exclusively for imports and other things as well. Why is Sony so anal retentive about keeping their consoles on their respective shores?
original announcement (it's true)
http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901
The legal battle with Sony over Lik-Sang's legitimate exporting activities started during August 2005. Sony complained about the sales of PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems to Europe and launched a lawsuit in the High Court of Hong Kong, arguing that Lik-Sang advertises the Sony products "in a dishonest manner" and "unlawfully interferes with Sony's economical interests". They further launched a completely separate lawsuit against the Hong Kong based company in the courts of England for selling PSP consoles to customers in Europe and the UK, and also for mirroring the freely available PSP user guides on their servers alleging copyright infringement.
...
"Fighting multiple lawsuits in different countries at the same time and paying high premiums to expensive lawyers is an overwhelming situation for a small company like Lik Sang. Launching separate court actions with separate claims and different judges is completely unnecessary, except for the fact that it helps reaching one single target: outspend Lik-Sang to death. Pay beyond", said Pascal Clarysse, Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com, clearly annoyed by the unfair situation. "And contrary to their claim, I don't believe they are suffering 'losses and damages' through Lik-Sang's activity".
What's the point of creating a region free product, and then creating a fuss about imported units? It's not like these sales are hurting the PSP's dwindling figures. There has got to be more to this story. The importation of PS3 consoles to EU has already declared illegal without getting permission from Sony first. And many people know about the cancelation of the pre-PS3 auctions (http://news.softpedia.com/news/PS3-Auctions-Canceled-on-eBay-38087.shtml)on e-bay. This is a classic case of an industry giant bullishly mistreating its power and influence by taking on a small business in order to send a message, and it's wrong.