Sony PlayStation 3 Imports Temporarily Banned In Europe 97
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."
Good news, Eurpeans! (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Hey Sony? (Score:4, Interesting)
The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
Bag of Hurt (Score:5, Interesting)
"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 [engadget.com]
Maybe this is what Mr. Jobs was thinking of?
Re:Now slap them with tax evasion (Score:0, Interesting)
Why? Just file a claim for the backtaxes for all sales where OtherOS was removed. Problem solved.
Re:Now slap them with tax evasion (Score:5, Interesting)
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 [wikipedia.org]
Of course, that also says "citation needed"...
Re:Good news, Eurpeans! (Score:5, Interesting)
Not weird really. The injunction is against Sony, not the merchant that is selling them.
Re:Hey Sony? (Score:5, Interesting)
Not at all. These sorts of patent disputes behind huge IP giants are just part of the game, and all the parties involved know that quite well. I'd give it 50/50 odds that the attorneys on the opposing sides had a nice dinner together after their racquetball game last week.
If you think Sony or some other company is ever going to react to an incident like this by suddenly snapping awake thinking "My God, maybe these patents aren't such a good idea after all," then you just don't know how this whole thing is intended to work. These companies all SHARE a common goal, and that's to completely exclude all new competition from the marketplace. In order to do that they need to brandish their weapons on a regular basis. They put on their costumes and get out in public and make like they're trying to kill each other (wink wink).
None of these corporations is ever going to experience any serious side effect of these patent "wars." War is such a silly name for it anyway. It's more like a nice aggressive game of shirts-vs-skins (pick sport of your choosing). You act all tough on the field, but you're all drinking beers together after the game.