Lik-Sang Is Out Of Business 722
AKAImBatman writes "Thanks to Sony's heavy handed tactics, popular game importer Lik-Sang is closing its doors. All Lik-Sang customers are having their orders cancelled and refunded. Any attempt to place a new order redirects your web browser to the news of Lik-Sang's demise." From the announcement: "'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, a few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today.'" Many thanks to Sony for ruining it for the rest of us. I hope that your business model makes up for the customer goodwill you're lighting on fire today. Update: 10/24 21:34 GMT by Z : Eurogamer has Sony's response to Lik-Sang's accusations.
BOYCOTT SONY! (Score:5, Informative)
If you're not already Boycotting Sony for their misdeeds, then I call upon you to stop purchasing ALL Sony products. Yes, that means no PSP, PS3, or PS2 stuff. (The PS2 and PSP games can be purchased used without majorly impacting a boycott, but it's better if anything Sony sits on the shelf.) More importantly, though, we have to hit Sony where it hurts! Which means no more Sony movies [sonypictures.com], music [sonymusic.com], and television [sonypictures.com].
That means that we can't watch, purchase, or rent popular movies like:
It also means that we need to stop watching popular television shows like:
Understandably, some of these are very entertaining pictures/shows that I (and I'm sure many others) would enjoy seeing. Unfortunately, a complete boycott means that every Sony product line must fail. So I ask you all, politely and humbly, will you boycott Sony? There is no excuse for their behavior, and I cannot in good conscience allow my dollars to support that behavior. If you feel the same way, then I would ask you to LOUDLY proclaim that you are joining the boycott.
Thank you.
P.S. If anyone has Sony contact info, please post it. A flood of angry but well-worded letters will help Sony pay attention to our displeasure.
P.P.S. Read the Lik-Sang announcement for yourself! Apparently, Sony Europe's execs are big customers of Lik-Sang!
AND YET YOU HAVEN'T CANCELLED YOUR PS3 PREORDER... (Score:5, Funny)
Kieth (Manager EB Games #47564)
Boycotts don't work (Score:5, Insightful)
Even though this move against Lik-Sang is outrageous, it turns out that people just don't care enough to deprive themselves of entertainment.
What's the alternative? (Score:5, Insightful)
In this case, you could always just pirate it instead of buying. Still gives them mindshare, but no profits. Seem to me that's the only way you'd ever accomplish a Sony boycott.
Consumers are sheep; unless provided an equally-attractive alternative, they'll never really give anything they enjoy up, no matter how repugnant its production might be.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
You can call some people sheep all of the time, and you can call all people sheep some of the time, but you can't call all people sheep all of the time (yes, even Republicans...).
I, my good people, am Nike-Free going on 8 years. They definitely have the largest range of nice sportswear, but their business practices turn my stomach and close my wallet. Just have to decide to do it.
Re:What's the alternative? (Score:5, Insightful)
At the end of the day, you can't effectively boycott a company which takes in so much cash per week as Nike, Sony or so on. You may win morally and feel nice inside but they will never see any impact on their bottom line. They probably own a bunch of brands you buy anyway, you just don't know it. It's pretty hard to do when these companies are so big and have so many assets and sub-brands.
However, doing it to the PS3 might be easy; you can make Sony Computer Entertainment look up from their beanbag chairs, by making the Wii the top selling console this Christmas. Or the XBox360. It won't take much. Or do things like buy a DS instead of a PSP - but, well, everyone is doing that ANYWAY. Your choice.
That would be easy to do given their problems with production we so hear rumors about. It only takes a hiccup over that holiday buying period for them to take notice. After years of domination of the console market, why not just show that over 2 or 3 weeks, you can knock them off the CHARTS (not lose them money or mindshare..) and stop them being so smug? Then they get the moral message of it.
You can buy a PS3 after Christmas if you are not still too disgusted with them.
Depriving them of money or mindshare isn't the answer, making a recordable, long-lived statement is, and I think having them lose the holiday season top-seller contest is a prime target.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I think you mean:
Boycott Nike "Just do it".
Re:What's the alternative? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Are you a walking billboard? (Score:5, Insightful)
I completely disagree with you on this point. The best pair of running shoes I ever purchased was $15 at Shopko. My track coach gave everyone a list of criteria to meet for an approved pair of shoes. He personally checked each pair and used the pair I bought as the example of a good running shoe.
What are sunglasses for? Shielding your eyes from the sun. A pair of $5 glasses with a high SPF rating does just as good of a job blocking out UV as a $200 pair of designer sunglasses. Ray Bans and Oakleys don't have some magical properties that make them better at blocking out UV. They just might look cooler and be made from more expensive materials (even then it's probably the difference between $1.00 of platinum and $0.05 of aluminum).
This I agree with wholeheartedly. I buy most of my clothing from the discount rack at Old Navy (because their clothes just happen to be designed for people with my body type). I don't buy anything from them full price. However, I own nothing that actually broadcasts "Old Navy". Just like you, I don't feel like being a walking billboard for any company.
Re:Are you a walking billboard? (Score:5, Funny)
True story.
Re:Are you a walking billboard? (Score:4, Interesting)
I wear presctiption sunglasses, which cost a small fortune, stand up to anything, and have to be comfortable because I can't see shit without them. Let me assure you, Oakleys and Ray-Bans are _not_ a high quality product. Better than the spinny rack? Yes. But that doesn't mean they aren't junk.
Re:Are you a walking billboard? (Score:5, Informative)
"A good pair of running shoes is going to set you back at least $100, no matter what. If you buy anything cheaper, you're simply risking injury."
It is simply untrue to claim that inexpensive running shoes come with the risk of injury. Sorry to drift off-topic, but this is an oft repeated falsehood that I once believed myself, and I'd like to share what I've since learned. Review literature on the subject concludes that the only reliable predictors for injury are experience level, training load, and history of previous injury. In particular, a sudden increase in training load often results in injury, and one might speculate that beginners are more prone to this error.
There is no evidence that cushioning or motion control technologies have done anything to reduce the incidence of injury over the years. Indeed, some groups, including westerners on concrete, run in bare feet, without obviously higher injury rates than those wearing "good" running shoes, though peer-reviewed studies are scarce. The biomechanics of running and running injuries are simply not well understood. As such it's difficult to claim that any particular design can reduce injury rates.
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Indeed, shoes affect different people in different ways. I had shin splints in some shoes and running surfaces, but not in other shoes. My anecdotal evidence is that running barefoot on grass, dirt, concrete, and pavement (surfaces free of sharp pebbly rocks) has become more comfortable than running in shoes (and less expensive and more fun, especially when there is mud). This doesn't mean barefeet work for everyone, but it also means expensive shoes are not inherently superior to cheap shoes (with my ba
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The only thing that $ will buy you in footwear nowadays is possibly longer life (don't count on that, either.) It won't buy you comfort. Everyone's feet differ, every situation differs.
(My foot doctor told me he's never seen feet like mine (13WW with a super-high arch). Despite that, he managed to make me comfortable, using a $15 clearance pair of tennies from Kmart as a base, two years in a row now. I'll spend money on a cobbler before I'll spend it on expensive shoes. All th
Re:Are you a walking billboard? (Score:5, Insightful)
But you miss the point entirely. The purpose of the branding is to illustrate your disposible income as a measure of status. The less sophisticated the audience, the more obvious the branding. That's is why the logos on clothing for high-schoolers is far more prominent than the clothing for adults. When you buy Oakleys, or Air Jordans, or whatever today's fad is, you are quite literally paying for the right to display how much money you have to lose.
Re:Are you a walking billboard? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What's the alternative? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What's the alternative? (Score:5, Insightful)
"People" have no reason to know Lik-Sang is being shut down, and no reason to care. Seriously, why should they? What priority should Lik-Sang displace? How well things are at work? Should I take time off from spending time with my family or any number of other things in my life to Take Action(TM) about a small company that I've only barely heard of?
You can't care about everything. Shall I call you a sheep because you don't devote 10 hours a week to the plight of African diamond miners? Or because you didn't shout out to Breast Cancer awareness in your post?
Any given human can only worry about so many things at a time. Many, many, many of them are way more important than whether Sony is shutting down Lik-Sang. It may be an interesting story and maybe some people should work on it, but calling people "sheep" because they can't keep up with every sin, both real and perceived, of every corporation they deal with is just arrogant.
I guarantee you you don't even meet your own standard for "non-sheepness", if you took the time to articulate it. (Of course, most people who toss around the word "sheep" seem to simply know they aren't a sheep.) The reason I can guarantee this is that, for example, to explain this situation to my wife who probably isn't even aware that games are imported because they are never released here, let alone who Lik-Sang is, would take several minutes. In order to worry about all the things of a similar magnitude in life that occur would take way more than 100% of your life. We are not sheep for not spending more than 100% of our time worrying about your particular choice of sins in the world.
Re:What's the alternative? (Score:4, Insightful)
Come on, you know the sheep. Judging by your post you are not one, but you see them around you. You know who they are and why some people call them so.
Oh and finally. I might not meet my own standards for non-sheepness but at least I can look at myself and assess my sheep level, fully aware of the possibility of there being a problem with it. This does not stop me from seeing other people's sheepness, and in fact it makes it easier.
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What in hell are you talking about? What does Sony make that you can't do without? The only Sony thing I think I still use is an alarm clock from the 90s. Everything Sony makes has a better alternative that isn't locked into their proprietary crap (Memory Stick), and is much cheaper.
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If a company takes some controversial practice that upsets enough people that they boycott, then it does not have to drive the company into unprofitability to be effective. Sony has a duty to its stockholders to maximize profits? They aren't getting as much of those as they could be if people are purposely avoiding their products simply because Sony is selling them.
The things that make it difficult for a boycott against Sony t
They are everyone. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:They are everyone. (Score:5, Insightful)
That's easy to say, but try working a low wage job and supporting a family, it's not that people don't care about these issues, it's that they can't afford to care.
I have a wife and 3 children.
I'd rather not shop at walmart, but I can't afford to spend 100 dollars more per month by going "the high road".
I'd rather animals are treated humanely and then killed humanely for their meat, but I can't afford 5 dollars a pound for hamburger or 7 dollars a pound for chicken.
Maybe what we need to do is rally around higher pay standards for the middle and lower classes, then we CAN make decisions that are the morally correct ones...
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What once was
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They usually don't work because a good company diversifies its product line far too much. That's why Phillip Morris [wikipedia.org] can't be put out of business. They own too many key product lines.
Sony, however, has been scaling back their operations. As it stands right now, their electronics lines are in shambles after cheapening and/or withdrawing a huge number of them. Great stuff like the Clie and the Vaio are simply gone or no longer the great products they once
Re:Boycotts don't work (Score:4, Informative)
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I do. I saw the trailer for Ghost Rider, and wanted to see it. Now that I know it's a Sony picture, I'm not going.
Fuck Sony. And fuck the UK courts too - what the hell is happening to that country?
Re:Boycotts don't work (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Enough people participate to make the cost of ignoring the boycott greater than the cost savings or revenue increase associated with whatever actions prompted the boycott.
2. The company that is being boycotted sees the boycott as being a long-term issue.
The following factors increase the likelihood of a boycott working against Sony:
1. Sony depends on volume sales for profitability. Their non-unit costs are significant (advertising, marketing, admin costs, etc) which means that they need to sell a lot of units of each product to make a profit.
2. Sony is aware of the bad rep they are accumulating. Should that rep cross over into the mainstream, it could _really_ hurt their bottom line. Companies with already-weak public images are more vulnerable to boycotts.
There are some factors that help Sony withstand a boycott:
1. Most of their products are non-commodity goods. One cannot simply substitute movie X from Sony with movie Y from Columbia/Tristar in the market. This is true of any of their IP-derived products (music, games, etc), so consumers are less likely to go without the Sony product. This is especially true with the game industry, as the field of competitors is very small.
2. Sony is an extremely large company with deep pockets. It's quite possible that they can weather any smaller boycott of a few years duration (and given the short-term memory of at least the American consumer, even a few years is more than enough).
3. Sony is a global corporation, and the larger the scale of a boycott, the harder it is to pull off.
I'm sure I've missed a lot of factors, but it is a fallacy to believe that boycotts don't work. Any company that ignores their customer base for too long will inevitably lose market share (unless, of course, there are market inequities (like monopoly status for IP distribution)) to their competitors.
My point is that a boycott WILL help (if only only a small scale), as long as it's a vocal boycott that hits the press. What's needed is a Sony insider to write a scathing tell-all book that makes the non-fiction best-seller list
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Re:BOYCOTT SONY! (Score:5, Informative)
It also means you can't buy any music by "Weird Al" Yankovic. His label, Volcano [wikipedia.org], is a subsidiary of Sony BMG. I'm sad to say I didn't realize this until after I got "Straight Outta Lynwood" home and noticed that, below the sticker that read "this CD does not conform to CD Audio specifications and may not play in all CD players" there was a Sony BMG logo.
So if you want to boycott Sony, you also have to boycott "Weird Al," something Slashdot may not enjoy doing [slashdot.org].
Re:BOYCOTT SONY! (Score:5, Insightful)
I think we all need to send a polite letter to Mr. Yankovic that we cannot purchase his music because of his distributor. With any luck, that will add a semi-important figure to the cause.
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But more importantly, it means that Weir Al can't just decide to sell his songs over the internet, because that would be against the contract he signed with the publisher, whether that's Sony, or any other.
Re:BOYCOTT SONY! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:BOYCOTT SONY! (Score:5, Insightful)
Does that also mean no Apple, Dell, HP, or Toshiba Laptops which use sony manufactured batteries?
Re: "Does not conform to CD Audio...." (Score:5, Informative)
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Huh. And what about the producers that recorded his music? The audio engineers that probably make a heck of a lot less money than he does? Do you think he'll take your $15.00 and divvy it up among the people that helped him make the album? I don't feel great about the situation in the music industry - I absolutely hate it. However, sending the money is just a way to not feel guilty about violating copyright. If you're serious about an actual boycott, don't buy the music. Don't consume the music. Fin
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I am not sure of the producers (although in this case they are probably label flacks) but generally the audio engineer is paid for his time at the time of recording, he does not receive royalties. Sure - he gets paid less than Weird Al, but there is always a disparity in the p
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If you really wanted to make a dent, I would suggest writing the advertising SPONSORS of Sony related TV shows, like Jeopardy and The King of Queens and tell them you have discontinued buying their products until they quit sponsoring entertainment that Sony has ownership in. Nothing like the threat of lost
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Not to mention acting like criminals themselves by lying about the their exploding batteries [cnn.com]. Most recently, they pulled batteries from their VAIO notebooks after trying to pin the blame on Dell, Toshiba, HP, etc. They had to admit that it was their own fault. Sorta. But then they said "Well, it could happen if the user bu
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Sony have gone out of their way, time and again, to show that they are no friend to their customer. Personally, I'm amazed that anyone is buying their stuff at all.
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What does watching have to do with purchasing or renting (or even buying tickets)?
Dan East
Re:BOYCOTT SONY! (Score:4, Insightful)
Unfortunately I had just bought some sony brand earplugs (I like them because they are in-ear but not as expensive as the shure E3c [or something like that]). After some time I had to buy replacement for the replaceable buds but sony wanted to rape me with £10 for I believe 2 pairs.
I held my boycott and bought some from a chinnese guy on Ebay, just for £5 for something like 6 pairs black and white
I just bought a DVD player, and I chose a Phillips (I believe Sony electronics are pretty overpriced, not as Bose of course but they are still overpriced).
I have explained my girlfriend about Sony practices and at least she will think again before buying Sony (although she still wants that iPod... even if there are other better mp3 players I have not been able to convince her).
I dont buy movies, I rent them via lovefilm and I seldom go to the cinemas, just when some nice "independent" film is screened.
I will buy a Wii, because mmm because I am not attracted to the othe 2 systems. Oh, and for all of you who believe that the PS3 will be incrdible expensive, just the other time I was showing my girlfriend the differences in prices (in the wikipedia), the price of the ps3 for Mexico is: MXN$7,999 ($640 US) MXN$9,499 ($760 US). Can you believe that shit? $760 US. I think that the market in Mexico for it is what, 2 persons? (well, lets say Fox children and the new president children). Of course you still have to buy the $99 US for the games... that is INSANE.
Yeah, I agree with the Sonny boycott. I hope more and more people realize that corporations are consuming their rights and start fighting the only way they can to stop them (no, political movements and any other kind of government related tactics wont work as corporations already spoon feed politicians, no I am not paranoid enough, I am from and lived in a country where corrupt government is blatant and the rich are the ones that control the goverment with the Mordida).
Sony hasn't wanted our business for years (Score:4, Insightful)
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WTF!?!?! (Score:3, Insightful)
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The real question is how the managed to win (Score:2)
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What I don't understand is the logic behind suing them in the first place... They buy your products and sell them to others to increase your install base...
correct (Score:2)
Now the percentage of people who buy outside of the regular retail channel is probably pretty small, but given that Europeans pay more for the same product (DVDs, Games etc) it is believeable that the margins hurt Sony and the regular retail chains.
Re:correct (Score:5, Insightful)
So camera manufacturers have figured out how to live with it, I'd like to see why Sony has gotten the idea that it is better to sue it out of existence.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
WalMart actively pressures its suppliers to do this, I've read. Nice, huh?
Why they hate the grey market. (Score:5, Insightful)
The 'grey market' is an equalizer; it's a basically unified marketplace that defies the attempts of the monopolists to charge different prices for the same thing in different places, by taking advantage of the cheap global transportation that we're blessed with today.
This is why it's so hated.
Re:Why they hate the grey market. (Score:5, Insightful)
DAMNIT TO FUCKING HELL!!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Sorry, I had to say it. That is all.
Not only Sony (Score:2, Informative)
Don't understand (Score:5, Insightful)
I really don't understand how Sony can do this kind of thing. Isn't this the kind of thing the World Trade Organisation is supposed to prevent? I thought that there was supposed to be essentially "free trade" between countries in the WTO. Or is it only free trade that benefits corporations that's allowed, not that which benefits us lowly consumers...
Re:Don't understand (Score:5, Funny)
See, you do understand.
~Rebecca
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What we have is not free trade, but is instead "free-er trade". As such it is full of compromises which restrict our freedom.
Way to go Sony. (Score:5, Informative)
Just like the above posters, I will not recommend nor buy anything from Sony. They are a hack company, and I'm done with them.
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Sony's Fault (Score:2, Insightful)
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Sad day for gamers everywhere (Score:5, Informative)
I wonder if play-asia.com are worried?
I bloody hope Play-Asia aren't next... (Score:5, Informative)
This isn't the first time Lik-Sang have run into trouble. They changed hands a year or two ago when they were being sued for selling mod-chips. I thought they'd at least be safe now, but no. Perhaps Sony should have funnelled the money they spent on the lawsuit into making their SoundStage software half-decent and producing an MP3 player that doesn't use their shitty ATRAC format.
Remember, kids (Score:2)
Let's turn it back at sony (Score:2)
If I absolutely positively must have any of its media(games movies cds etc) or electronics products i'll either warez it or buy it second hand.
None of my money will ever support those greedy assholes again.
RIP Lik-Sang (Score:2, Informative)
Out of my many transactions with them, there was an error only once. A simple call to customer service and they quickly corrected everything. This is truely a sad sad day.
Replacement? (Score:2)
Also, I'm looking for GBA game dev "home-brew" related hardware. Any recommended sites?
Cheers
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Well, crap. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, they were a Hong Kong import/export warehouse who wrote websites in broken English, but they really seemed to care about making people happy more than the rest of them that just want to shift merchandise. They had news. They had reviews. They had style.
I feel like I've just lost the modern Internet version of the classic little mom-and-pop shop that always had the coolest stuff.
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I think a lot of people don't even realize that Lik-Sang manufactured a number of their own controller adapters under the "SmartJoy" name, Not only will they stop importing products but you'll have a hard time finding anymore playstation to Gamecube adapters, and other great products like the SmartJoy frag which allowed you to use a keyboard
clarification please (Score:4, Interesting)
Sony keeps talking about voltage levels and such but the suit is always labelled as "intellectual property". Which is it?
Also, in the case it's IP, doesn't the doctrine of first sale allow anyone to resell the copyrighted stuff any way he or she wishes?
Just A Prelude Perhaps (Score:4, Interesting)
Sony not the only one (Score:2, Interesting)
I also have to add that Sony is not the only company that restricted game imports from Japan. Nintendo has done it before with the N64 and as much as I like Nintendo, I have never understood the reason for that restriction. It's the same with DVDs - if the publisher in my country produces an acceptable ve
Fishy? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Fishy? (Score:4, Insightful)
How about, "The kind of world that would harm us for doing something harmless, that helps people get what they want and are willing to pay for, is no world that we want to do business in. And the chance of us losing our savings and the shirt off our back in the next lawsuit are a bit too scary for us to sleep well at night." Just conjecture, but it's how I might feel in their situation...
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Lik-Sang can either (a) try to defend themselves in the entirety of Europe and get sucked dry, most likely negatively hurting their customers or (b) accept defeat and shut down gracefully, going out with style.
They don't have the warchest Sony does, and Sony knows it.
Double standards and stupid (Score:4, Informative)
And besides that, it is also a obvious example of double standards. Even Sony directors were huge clients of Lik-Sang.
For example (as stated in the note):
- 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)
I'll be avoiding Sony stuff after this...
This seals the deal. (Score:2)
Does anyone remember the old Sony? (Score:5, Insightful)
Didn't think so!
Ever since Sony acquired large media properties, the old Sony has been slowly dismantled piece by piece, as one horrible business decision after another is foisted on the consumer by the influence of the media divisions. If Sony wasn't so concerned about defending their media units (dvds,cds,film,etc.), we wouldn't have had things like the root kit fiasco, crippled MP3 players, and $600 gaming systems. We also might have a company that focuses on what they did best, delivering consumer electronics to a willing market.
This is just the latest in a string of strong arm tactics from a company that has lost its roots and its way. Apparently, hitting them in the wallet is the only chance of getting them to change. Maybe if the PS3 flops, they will be forced to reexamine their structure and strategy.
I'm all for the calls of BOYCOTT! I wasn't going to buy an overpriced PS3 anyways, but I'm not going to be buying other Sony products either.
Lik-Sang was a great, quirky outfit. They'll be sorely missed!
Re:Does anyone remember the old Sony? (Score:5, Informative)
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R.I.P. Lik-Sang (Score:3, Interesting)
Just what did they do anyway? (Score:3, Funny)
AFAICT, Lik Sang bought goods in one place, thereby invoking "Exhaustion of Rights" -- i.e., the law which says that once you have sold something that used to have been your property once to somebody else, whatever the hell they do with it next is none of your bloody business -- and sold the same goods in another place. What's so terrible about that? For crying out loud, there are laws in place that protect your right to do exactly that! For instance, on the European Mainland, DVD players must be multi-region; because it has been ruled by the European courts that preventing a movie sold in one country from being watched in another is anti-competitive behaviour. How is this not the case with video games? Or is this another bit of the Maastricht Treaty that John Major opted us out of while he was Prime Minister?
Re:Just what did they do anyway? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know about EU law, but US law makes it illegal to import trademarked items (even if they are real) for resale without the trademark owner's (written) permission 0 if the owner is a US citizen or corporation. In effect, corporations with US operations can limit the gray market importation of their products if they have a US subsidiary. There are personal use exemptions - i.e. I can buy a Rolex in Switzerland and bring it to the US; since Congress amended the law to allow for personal use exemptions after they discovered that people were buying things overseas for their own us only to be faced with customs seizure when they got back.
In effect, it protects the US company's ability to exclusively market their goods - whether or not that is a good thing is a different story. Of course, the US sub is glad to sell as much of its product to tourists or whomever and let the other region's distributes worry about their lost sales.
Of course, companies can limit the profitability of the gray market by minimizing price differences around the world, although currency fluctuations will always open up arbitrage opportunities; and selling products widely instead of limiting some to specific regions. They also try to limit it by not offering world wide warranties; or, in the case of some car manufacturers, requiring you to agree to not export the vehicle within a certain amount of time after purchase.
Sony's Response (Score:4, Informative)
"Lik-Sang did not contest this case (i.e. they did not turn up and therefore incurred no legal costs). We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid," the statement claims. "We would therefore strongly deny that our actions have had anything to do with this website closing (we assume the legal entity is still trading), and would suggest that this release is sour grapes on behalf of Lik-Sang which is aimed to belittle Sony Computer Entertainment and the British judicial system that found against them."
The mention of "substantial costs" suggests the size of the judgment may have been what caused Lik-Sang to close its doors.
A boycott is inefficient, use YOUTUBE (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Would it be too harsh... (Score:5, Funny)
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*please mod informative, please mod informative*
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
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I used to sell Sony batteries in my retail store. I had no contract with Sony. I did not need Sony's permission. Sony didn't even know I existed; and liked it that way.
I could have sold Sony TVs, Game machines, whatever on the same terms.
I bought them from someone who owned them. I resold them. It's a pretty straightforward equation. Sony did not rely on contract issues in the lawsuit (if Lik-Sang got their stuff under contract from Sony, Sony could have just stopped selling to
Not really... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually that is still an open question of weather the courts would uphold or throw out Sony's charges against Lik Sang were the case to be actually litigated.
A large company does not need actually enforcable legal claims in order to litigate a small company (or individual) into bankruptcy. Especially when they start filing lawsuits in fucking foreign courts. Lik Sang is a small Hong Kong company with no presense in the UK, and suddenly they find someone stuffing in they face a notice ok UK court proceedings against them.
One option is to simply ignoring the foreign court which has no juridiction against them, but that would mean the litigating party (Sony) would win any and all court motions by un-opposed default, no matter how bogus those court motions were, and the attacked company would eternally face the propect that that foreign monstrosity of bogus default rulings would come crashing down on them somehow some day. The eternal headache of an entire foreign legal system trying every method to strike at their business deallings and to get at Lik Sang iself, to enforce the unopposed default rulings against them.
Another option when you get that notice of foreign court action against you, is to rush out and locate and pay for some lawyer in that country, and to rush to supply that lawyer with the facts and other information of the case, and have him do his research and work to figure out the proper legal strategy and response to the case, and to manage to get that appropriate response filed with the court within the deadline listed on the court papers. Meeting that court deadline is really rough under those circumstances. And then of course you have to pay a legal team to actually fight out that legal battle for however long. And when you *do* take this option, going into that foreign court to argue the case usually involves an implict legal acknowledgement that you *accept* that that court has jurisdiction over you. You generally cannot both argue that the case against you is bogus *and* argue that the court you are in has no authority over you in the first place. By accepting the court's jurisdiction you are placing your head on the chopping block for that random foriegn nation's entire legal system... and you have been running your business perfectly legally under your LOCAL laws and god-knows how many ways you can get screwed because that random foriegn legal system is different.
And then of court there's the real killer... you go ahead and prepare to fight the good fight in the UK court room.... and before the judge ever rules on anything... you find yourself served with simultaneous court filings in the US and in Austrailia and in France and in Germany and every other country where Sony has lawyers already on in retainer. At which point it's all over. It doesn't matter if your business is 100% legal and if you would win each and every court case. A tiny company like Lik Sang cannot possibly afford the cost of a score or more of lawyers fighting multiple simultaneous court battles in various countries across the globe for years on end.
Oh, and lets not forget that Sony has been bleeding Lik Sang for YEARS with a series of LEGALLY BOGUS international lawsuits. For example here [theregister.co.uk] is a lawsuit over mod chips where Lik Sang was forced to give up the court fight and paid Sony an undislosed extortion payment to survive.... yet here [slashdot.org] is an ultimate Australian ruling on the issue showing that the mod chips (and Lik Sang's business) was perfectly legal in Australia and proving that Lik Sang was bled legal costs fighting a case where Lik Sang was in the right and paid Sony settlement $$$ to escape for a court battle where Lik Sang was in the right.
Lik Sang's business annoys Sony. It doesn't matter if Sony has any valid legal claim or not, Sony is big enough that the
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Like this case [theregister.co.uk] in Australia where Sony bled Lik Sang of untold legal fees and finally pressured Lik Sang to pay Sony undisclosed $$$ in order to drop the assault, and this [slashdot.org] completed battle over the issue showing that Lik Sang was in the right and their business was perfectly legal, and that Sony had bled Lik Sang of all that money with an INVALID lawsuit?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)