Grrr... Sony.

[TransformX]

http://www.lik-sang.com/

Lik-Sang.com Out of Business due to Multiple Sony Lawsuits
Tue Oct 24 2006 21:58:51 Hong Kong Time - Corporate Info

OUT OF BUSINESS NOTICE

Hong Kong, October 24th of 2006 - Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers, and have recently obtained a judgment in the High Court of London (England) rendering Lik-Sang's sales of PSP consoles unlawful.

As of today, Lik-Sang.com will not be in the position to accept any new orders and will cancel and refund all existing orders that have already been placed. Furthermore, Lik-Sang is working closely with banks and PayPal to refund any store credits held by the company, and the customer support department is taking care of any open transactions such as pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. The staff of Lik-Sang will make sure that nobody will get hurt in the crossfire of this ordeal.

A Sony spokesperson declined to comment directly on the lawsuit against Lik-Sang, but recently went on to tell Gamesindustry.biz that "ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty".

Lik Sang strongly disagrees with Sony's opinion that their customers need this kind of protection and pointed out that PSP consoles shipped from Lik-Sang contained genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters that carry CE and other safety marks and are compatible world wide. All PSP consoles were in conformity with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations.

Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes 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), just to name a few.

"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', few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today."

[Dr Mordrid]

Not that I'd even consider buying anything Sony, but this alone would make me reconsider.

[knirfie]

You just found this out now? I've hated Sony for a long time, this just made me hate them more

www.playasia.com also works, though I found LikSangs site nicer...


but do note:

PSP PlayStation Portable - Pink (PSP-1000PK)

This item is not available for shipping to
European Union
Iceland
Liechtenstein
Norway

[Brian Ellis]

I agree. Never buy Sony! They are the Microsoft of consumer electronics, trying to dominate the world by making sure that if you start with their products, they make it as difficult as possible to switch to another make. One of their techniques is to bend international standards just sufficiently to enforce this. Example: DVCAM. This is the same as the popular Mini-DV except for a slight difference in track width on the magnetic tape. DVCAM devices will accept either Mini-DV or DVCAM recorded tapes, but a DVCAM tape will not play in any Mini-DV device. The only Sony device I have is a DVCAM deck, which is well built and works wonderfully, but it taught me never to trust Sony. Bastards!

[lowlifecat]

still waiting for my 100$ SONY!!!!

[Dr Mordrid]

Tell us how you really feel Brian

What got me started on them were all the support posts on video boards from people who couldn't get generic IEEE-1394 captures to work with Sony cams.

Of course the problem was their "custom" implementation

Then there was the audio bitrate issue.

16 bit DV audio is supposed to be sampled at 48khz on the nose. Sony had a chipset that sampled a tad higher than that, causing an audio drift in many editing programs.

Once the problem was known it could be corrected for, but still....

[Gurm]

Tell us how you really feel Brian

What got me started on them were all the support posts on video boards from people who couldn't get generic IEEE-1394 captures to work with Sony cams.

Of course the problem was their "custom" implementation

Oh GOD don't get me started on this. A few years back a friend bought their first digital mini-camcorder (we're talking like 2000-2001 here), and getting Premiere to even recognize the thing was an exercise in futility and downloading bizarro Sony drivers from Japanese sites. WTF? Everyone ELSE'S minicam just plugged into the firewire port and was done, but Sony's implementation was JUST A LITTLE DIFFERENT.

Bitches.

That friend STILL buys Sony though, he drives me insane.

[Jammrock]

I have a Sony miniDV camcorder. XP and Vista both find it without installing any additional drives, and it's about 2 years old.

But I agree with everyone that Sony quality has really gone downhill in the past 10 years. Too much Americanization of their products and business practices.

[Technoid]

I plugged my fathers sony dvcam into my audigy fw port and it worked without any problems

[az]

That friend STILL buys Sony though, he drives me insane.

If a friend buys something because he doesn't know better and nobody has told him, I'll help if I can. But if a friend buys something bad against my good advice, there'll be no tech support for that from me.

[lowlifecat]

If a friend buys something because he doesn't know better and nobody has told him, I'll help if I can. But if a friend buys something bad against my good advice, there'll be no tech support for that from me.

amen!

[TnT]

ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera

Wait-a-minute, who had exploding batteries?

[Dr Mordrid]

Paraphrasing Doc Holliday in Tombstone;

"...their hypocrisies know no bounds..."