Sony "kill" Lik-Sang.com

[Beat X500]

Taken from: http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 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."

This is a sad day in the gaming world in my opinion. Lik-Sang was one of my all time favourite retailers, and websites in general. They may have killed off Lik-Sang, but this move is another nail in Sony's Playstation-shaped coffin. :'(

[Moonwraith]

This is going to anger a lot of the internet community, and I certainly won't be buying any Sony product now - but I don't think the backlash will do anything more than dent Sony and hurt their pride a bit.

[Mikaelus]

Wow..... Sony is..... Wow.

[Anti Hacker]

This is going to anger a lot of the internet community, and I certainly won't be buying any Sony product now - but I don't think the backlash will do anything more than dent Sony and hurt their pride a bit.

Ditto, I was thinking of buying a PSP but won't now. And if all the backlash can do is dent Sony's pride, then let it be dented with a vengance.

[nomercy]

No skin off my nose, really. I suppose what they were doing could be thought of as illegal anyway. I've been zoning out of Sony stuff for a while, except for the PSP anyway, and I pretty much have all I want at the moment anyway.

[mr_shoe_uk]

Aw... Lik-sang was a really good import site, where I first shopped from other regions!

[Beat X500]

No skin off my nose, really. I suppose what they were doing could be thought of as illegal anyway. I've been zoning out of Sony stuff for a while, except for the PSP anyway, and I pretty much have all I want at the moment anyway.

Not really illegal, they bought the goods themselves and then sold them on to the customers. Just as any online retailer. Its just Sony really dont want EU gamers getting the PS3 before launch.

Not that many EU gamers want one after all this stupidity anyway

[Cye Zero]

Aw man could this be a sign of Sony demise.

[Lee-yoshi]

Sony claimed it was because of safety issues concerning the plug and voltage differences between regions. I guess i have heard of a lot of people's houses catching fire because of a PSP they imported from Lik-Sang.com! </sarcasm>

What's so golden about this story though?

Truely awesome!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6083856.stm

[quote=BBC News Online]"The purchasing of PSP consoles by SCE employees would be for investigatory purposes. We would also like to express our surprise at a company releasing personal information about its consumers," the statement read.

Two years ago? Well they took they're sweet time about actioning the lawsuit!

[Anti Hacker]

Too long. The law should have just said "if this was a problem, why wait until now?" - and it's true Sony is wasting the law's time! If people are too stupid to realise that different world regions have different voltages, one of two things should happen:

1) People should become the party to fault, not Lik-Sang.

2) All importing of hardware with voltage differences to the UK should be banned in the UK because obviously our population is too dense to understand voltage differences.


- Now since number 2 is NOT in effect, we must accept number 1! So what the hell is Sony fussing about? In fact, if the voltage difference is a reason for Sony's lawsuit, I take it personally as a direct insult from Sony to ME!