# EU Customs Ordered To Seize PS3 Consoles



## Nujui (Feb 28, 2011)

Today, LG has won a ten day injunction, blocking imports of the PS3. You may remember the story on the legal battle against the two, and here's a out come of it.

Here's a quote from the source.


European customs officers have been ordered to seize shipments of Playstation 3s after LG won a preliminary injunction against Sony in an acrimonious patent battle between the two Asian electronics giants.

The ruling by the civil court of justice in the Hague means that all new PS3s have to be confiscated as they are imported into the UK and the rest of Europe for at least 10 days.

If the injunction was extended it could mean consoles disappearing from high street shelves. It is understood that Sony and computer games retailers typically have about two to three weeks’ worth of PS3s in stock across the continent.

Tens of thousands of PS3s were seized by customs officers last week in the Netherlands, the Guardian has learnt, in a dispute that centres on Sony’s allegedly infringing use of Blu-ray technology belonging to LG.

Sony, which imports around 100,000 of the consoles a week, is frantically trying to get the ban lifted. The Japanese company has the right to appeal to the European patents office.

LG meanwhile, could apply to the same patents office to get the 10-day import ban extended. Alternatively, the Korean company could apply for a court order to get the consoles destroyed but it is highly unlikely the court would grant a request to eliminate the warehoused goods.

LG argues that Sony PS3s infringe a number of its patents relating to playback of Blu-ray Discs. LG called for an investigation into the PS3?s Blu-ray use in a filing with the US international trade commission earlier this month, and said it sought a “permanent exclusion order … excluding entry into the United States” of the games console.

If Sony is found to have infringed LG patents, it could be forced to compensate the South Korean manufacturer for each PS3 it has sold around the world, which could cost hundreds of millions of pounds.

The two technology giants are involved in a complex web of seven separate patent disputes, with Sony also seeking to block shipments of LG smartphones to the US.

Rotterdam and Schiphol are the main import points for PS3s for both the UK and continental Europe. The consoles are being stockpiled in Dutch warehouses until it becomes clear how the case will develop.

A spokesman for Sony Playstation said: “We are currently looking into this matter, and cannot make any comments at this point in time.” LG declined to comment, although sources close to the company confirmed the current legal position.

Sony has sold more than 3m PS3s in the UK since its launch in March 2007. The Japanese manufacturer is understood to have a stockpile of around 6,500 PS3s in Germany and 10,000 in the UK.

However, the majority of PS3 sales around Europe are pre-orders, meaning they are already sold before they gather dust at warehouses in the UK and elsewhere. Stockpiles could run out within two to three weeks if the ban is not lifted, the Guardian understands.
[/p]

Source 1

Source 2


----------



## indask8 (Feb 28, 2011)

"The Sprinkler Sprinkled". 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Go go go LG! Make them pay, they can afford it.


----------



## Maz7006 (Feb 28, 2011)

Life's Good.


----------



## Wintrale (Feb 28, 2011)

This is the biggest bullshit ever. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray player. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray film. Sony, Philips and Pioneer were the companies that actually developed Bluray technology. How the hell did LG actually get an injunction when they have no case, when all they ever did was jump on the bandwago? Being able to play certain kinds of media shouldn't even be patentable for crying out loud.

Ugh...


----------



## Recorderdude (Feb 28, 2011)

Karma.






That is all.


----------



## heartgold (Feb 28, 2011)

Yup Karma


----------



## Stevetry (Feb 28, 2011)

LG is GOD yea yea Go for it i support you


----------



## tijntje_7 (Feb 28, 2011)

LG doesn't deserve this. But sony does.
Shit karma.


----------



## D34DL1N3R (Feb 28, 2011)

Karma does not exist. Period.


----------



## Splych (Feb 28, 2011)

so LG won the case ?
that's pretty weird , i thought Sony would've won .


----------



## RupeeClock (Feb 28, 2011)

Splych said:
			
		

> so LG won the case ?
> that's pretty weird , i thought Sony would've won .


Dunno if it was the same courts, but maybe the courts don't want Sony thinking that they are their bitch.


----------



## rave420 (Feb 28, 2011)

sweet deal. Anything that takes the wind out of the giant assrape boat known as sony is welcome anytime.

i am silently praying that they decide to destroy confiscicated hardware. For every PS3 destroyed, a little kitten has one helluva day. And think about the kittens :3


----------



## Coto (Feb 28, 2011)

Fuck Yeah.

That's all


----------



## KingVamp (Feb 28, 2011)

Wow! O.o That other case seem brighter.


----------



## twiztidsinz (Feb 28, 2011)

Splych said:
			
		

> so LG won the case ?
> that's pretty weird , i thought Sony would've won .


They didn't win the case. They were granted a temporary injunction (essentially a restraining order, but typically for products) while the case proceeds.
This means that there was enough evidence provided by LG to convince a judge to temporarily prevent Sony from importing goods to the country, which isn't done lightly or on a whim because, as you can imagine, this could cost Sony (or any other company that an injunction is placed on) millions of dollars in a matter of days.


----------



## hova1 (Feb 28, 2011)

i own a PS3, and i don't even feel bad for Sony at all. I actually find it quite amusing


----------



## Issac (Feb 28, 2011)

Wintrale said:
			
		

> This is the biggest bullshit ever. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray player. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray film. Sony, Philips and Pioneer were the companies that actually developed Bluray technology. How the hell did LG actually get an injunction when they have no case, when all they ever did was jump on the bandwago? Being able to play certain kinds of media shouldn't even be patentable for crying out loud.
> 
> Ugh...



You sure what you're talking about? 
The whole thing with Blu-ray discs has been on the research table for a long time before it was released, and in that time LG may have come up with a technique to get better quality playback of said blu-ray discs. (Notice how the PS3 was (and still is?) the best blu-ray player available, maybe the used technique is the reason?). Or maybe it was some compression method or anything, I don't know.
However, if they have a patent on something regarding blu-ray, and sony used it without permission, LG Sure does have a case!

What you are saying is in my eyes like saying the Chinese may develop an sell pirated games and consoles, since it's the Chinese who put the consoles together in the first place.


----------



## Nujui (Feb 28, 2011)

I feel bad for the people that don't get the ps3s, but as for sony...

I really don't know.


----------



## Hop2089 (Feb 28, 2011)

Sony this year is at an all time low.

First, the lawsuits, now their technology is banned from import to Europe.

Sony may have just lost the console war by internal conflicts.

Nice knowing you Sony *waits for the ban free 3DS to come*


----------



## LightyKD (Feb 28, 2011)

Maz7006 said:
			
		

> Life's Good.


Indeed! Life IS good.


----------



## BobTheJoeBob (Feb 28, 2011)

Every things gone wrong for sony now. I actually hope they recover.


----------



## LightyKD (Feb 28, 2011)

BobTheJoeBob said:
			
		

> Every things gone wrong for sony now. I actually hope they recover.



Recover?! I want the muthafrakers to DIE. Burn in flames!


----------



## Slyakin (Feb 28, 2011)

LightyKD said:
			
		

> BobTheJoeBob said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They're just a video game company that's trying to fight piracy on their console.

Sure, they are taking things to extremes, but they don't want the PS3 to lose popularity.


----------



## chrisrlink (Feb 28, 2011)

don't forget sony teamed up with nintendo to create playstation a snes cd add on but sony got greedy and fucked nintendo over


----------



## iMasaru (Feb 28, 2011)

It makes perfect sense that Sony want to take a stand against piracy as it would mess up their 10 year plan for the PS3, but cmon! There's a limit to how far a company should go, and Sony's becoming kind of desperate now... Good for LG.


----------



## Law (Feb 28, 2011)

Wintrale said:
			
		

> This is the biggest bullshit ever. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray player. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray film. Sony, Philips and Pioneer were the companies that actually developed Bluray technology. How the hell did LG actually get an injunction when they have no case, when all they ever did was jump on the bandwago? Being able to play certain kinds of media shouldn't even be patentable for crying out loud.
> 
> Ugh...




Pretty much this, but thanks to corrupt corporations the patent system will never be fixed.

And of course if LG manage to get the consoles banned completely, what's stopping publishers from going "Okay, now we don't have to publish PS3 games in europe anymore."

Way to set the gaming market back 20 years, LG.


----------



## Eckin (Feb 28, 2011)

ok so Sony is right to fight against piracy (even tho that's not what they are doing in court) but LG ir wrong to fight for their copyrights



fanboys until the end I guess?


----------



## Issac (Feb 28, 2011)

chrisrlink said:
			
		

> don't forget sony teamed up with nintendo to create playstation a snes cd add on but sony got greedy and fucked nintendo over



I believed it was like this too when I was younger, but it was nintendo who got cold feet and left actually


----------



## Tai Le Ree (Feb 28, 2011)

Law said:
			
		

> Wintrale said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I want this to happen.


----------



## twiztidsinz (Feb 28, 2011)

Eckin said:
			
		

> ok so Sony is right to fight against piracy (even tho that's not what they are doing in court) but LG ir wrong to fight for their copyrights
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Profits.
If Sony loses, they "just" have to change the offending part(s).
If Sony loses and they DON'T do that, publishers will probably never deal with them again.


----------



## Nujui (Feb 28, 2011)

Tai Le Ree said:
			
		

> Law said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Why would you want this to happen?


----------



## redact (Feb 28, 2011)

Issac said:
			
		

> chrisrlink said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i was under the impression that sony was demanding an unreasonably large cut of the profits from nintendo so the deal was off....


----------



## emigre (Feb 28, 2011)

chrisrlink said:
			
		

> don't forget sony teamed up with nintendo to create playstation a snes cd add on but sony got greedy and fucked nintendo over
> 
> Idiotic fanboyism yeah! It was the other way around, the relationship broke down (over I beleive the rights and finance of the CD add on). Sony decided to not let their work go to waste.
> 
> ...



I and I imagine every PS3 owner in Europe do not because millions of decent customers also get fucked over. Sadly it seems the idiotic fanboys don't seem to think about that.


----------



## Nujui (Feb 28, 2011)

mercluke said:
			
		

> Issac said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually, if what I'm reading is right, they broke the partnership with sony and went with Philips to do something else.


----------



## emigre (Feb 28, 2011)

Sheaperd121 said:
			
		

> mercluke said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, if memory serves me correct that led to to the CD-i.


----------



## FireGrey (Feb 28, 2011)

WTF LG is just sewing Sony cause they can...
I HATE ppl that sew each other cause they can...


----------



## Tai Le Ree (Feb 28, 2011)

Sheaperd121 said:
			
		

> Tai Le Ree said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Because if Sony dies Sony exclusive games would branch to Nintendo and Microsoft systems.
Like how we get sonic games on wii and 360 now.


----------



## Joe88 (Feb 28, 2011)

emigre said:
			
		

> Sheaperd121 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


and that became known as one of the worst business decisions in video games


----------



## emigre (Feb 28, 2011)

Tai Le Ree said:
			
		

> Sheaperd121 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Just buy a triple.


----------



## Nujui (Feb 28, 2011)

Tai Le Ree said:
			
		

> Sheaperd121 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


And you think that's a good thing? I don't think very many people would like that.


----------



## Law (Feb 28, 2011)

Tai Le Ree said:
			
		

> Sheaperd121 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Sega isn't dead.

And if Sony die, their projects will probably die too.

Not to mention the American and Japanese markets will keep them going, it'll only be Europe that gets fucked over with consumers being forced to import games at crazy marked up prices. At least Sony had the sense to make it region free.


----------



## DiscostewSM (Feb 28, 2011)

Issac said:
			
		

> chrisrlink said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



If I remember my history correctly, Nintendo went to Sony about the addon, so the contract was made and signed. What happened around the unveiling of the partnership was that Sony, in the contract, would have had exclusive rights and royalties for anything made for the addon, cutting Nintendo out any profits, so they cut up the contract and went with Phillips. Negotiations with Nintendo and Sony continued, when Sony was making their own standalone unit that also offered the ability to play SNES games. This time, Nintendo wanted a larger cut of all sales from hardware and software, so negotiations terminated, and now they are rivals. They both were greedy, and both at fault for a bad partnership.


----------



## Tai Le Ree (Feb 28, 2011)

Law said:
			
		

> Tai Le Ree said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just have my reasons to want to see sony fall.
And I'm sure all the other companies that sell games to sony would want their games to be global.
This means way less games for the ps3
And more games on other systems.
why am I talking like this.
one sentence per line.
Stop it.


----------



## machomuu (Feb 28, 2011)

Tai Le Ree said:
			
		

> I just have my reasons to want to see sony fall.
> And I'm sure all the other companies that sell games to sony would want their games to be global.
> This means way less games for the ps3
> And more games on other systems.
> ...


Yeah, there's a certain other member that does that, though I haven't seen him in a while... 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Anyway, the world of Sony sure has gotten dramatic lately.


----------



## emigre (Mar 1, 2011)

Tai Le Ree said:
			
		

> Law said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Did Sony massacre your family and friends in a drink-drug with members of the popular band The carpenters taking videos for thier own sick perverted pleasure?

And when Law said projects would die, he meant Sony owned studios like Naughty Dog.


----------



## twiztidsinz (Mar 1, 2011)

mercluke said:
			
		

> Issac said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


From what I recall of an article I read a number of years back, it wasn't an "unreasonably large" cut, it was more of a "larger than expected" cut which would have put a considerable amount more risk on Nintendo than they had planned/accounted for. Each side (Nintendo was scared vs Sony was greedy) contains facts, but misses the truth.


----------



## chyyran (Mar 1, 2011)

Sony's gettin' kicked in the but by karma eh? That's what you get for raiding an innocent person's home. When will you learn that what comes around, goes around.
As for LG, good that your kicking Sony in the butt, but bad for abusing the patent system.


----------



## CarbonX13 (Mar 1, 2011)

Didn't Sony invent Blu-ray? How can they be copying when they invented the tech?


----------



## machomuu (Mar 1, 2011)

CarbonX13 said:
			
		

> Didn't Sony invent Blu-ray? How can they be copying when they invented the tech?


No, they didn't create Blue Ray, Shuji Nakamura did.


----------



## geminisama (Mar 1, 2011)

Another episode in Sony's midlife crisis. For those of you bitching about LG, you do realize this would never have happened if they didn't make a strong case? These kind of things don't happen over mere accusations with no substance.


----------



## MelodieOctavia (Mar 1, 2011)

Just because Sony owns the rights to Blu-Ray, it doesn't mean that they own everything relating to it. From my understanding, LG developed SOMETHING for the Blu-ray player, and Sony used THAT technology without permission from LG.

It's just like if, let's say...Nyko made an incredible 3rd party Wiimote for the Wii that was 10 times better than the original, using their own technology and techniques and patents, and Nintendo decided to completely steal their patented 3rd party Wiimote and sell it under their name without permission. Nyko would have a pretty much open and shut case of patent infringement. Nintendo owns all rights to the Wii, but not everything relating to it, you see.


----------



## Kioku_Dreams (Mar 1, 2011)

Wintrale said:
			
		

> This is the biggest bullshit ever. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray player. Sony was the first company to release a Bluray film. Sony, Philips and Pioneer were the companies that actually developed Bluray technology. How the hell did LG actually get an injunction when they have no case, when all they ever did was jump on the bandwago? Being able to play certain kinds of media shouldn't even be patentable for crying out loud.
> 
> Ugh...



Lol... It's patents......


----------



## Oveneise (Mar 1, 2011)

Wow. Sony is having a lot of bad luck recently.


----------



## Maedhros (Mar 1, 2011)

This bullshit is going too far... the only ones who loses on this is the consumers, as always.


----------



## Law (Mar 1, 2011)

Tai Le Ree said:
			
		

> Law said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think you'll find

that I wrote one sentence

every _other_ line.

Glad to see you can still act childish when you don't have a leg to stand on.


----------



## SPH73 (Mar 1, 2011)

This is possibly the most catastrophic development in gaming history.

If this happened to any other company you would never hear the end of it. Seriously, this is really the end. 

They failed to capture the portable market. (Sony is still caught in the "gaming ghetto.")

They fail with the PS3 losing 4.7 billion. (Actually its closer to six billion now.)

They pay an obnoxious kid to go on the internet and mock the Wii by saying "Shove it up your ass, dildo, etc." And when that failed they ripped off the Wii mote directly.

They create animosity with almost every gamer on the planet by attacking Google, YouTube, and PS3 hackers.

They run offensive ads that mock religion, Jesus, Jews, Blacks, Women, Hispanics, Violence against Women, etc

And now this....

This is all the perfect shit storm of karma.


----------



## Maedhros (Mar 1, 2011)

SPH73 said:
			
		

> This is possibly the most catastrophic development in gaming history.
> 
> If this happened to any other company you would never hear the end of it. Seriously, this is really the end.
> 
> ...


Now I'm sure that I'll lose nothing blocking your comments.


----------



## GH0ST (Mar 1, 2011)

The Guardian reports that the situation is further complicated by a number of other patent disputes that the two companies are currently contesting with each other.

LG  filed a patent-infringement complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission to block Fony from selling some high-margin televisions and game consoles after Fony filed a lawsuit against the South Korean company in December, alleging that LG violated U.S. trade rules by importing and selling certain mobile phones and modems that infringed on Sony's patents.

This is War...


----------



## Giga_Gaia (Mar 1, 2011)

Obviously, Sony went too far with the war to the hackers. Now the universe is sending them a message telling them to GTFO.

Not that it matters, not like they have a chance to beat the hackers anyway. Even Apple couldn't beat Geohot and their scare tactics aren't scaring him and Graf doesn't seem to be scared either.


----------



## Bladexdsl (Mar 1, 2011)

i only have 2 words for sony


----------



## Sterling (Mar 1, 2011)

Maedhros said:
			
		

> SPH73 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, a few of those thing are actually true, and the rest are exaggerations. He's shown a bit more intelligence than just anti Sony this and that. You'll lose every chance at rebuking his arguments with your own.


----------



## Qtis (Mar 1, 2011)

Off topic: Not all games would be released for all other console if Sony went out of the market. For example Alan Wake was Xbox 360 exclusive because Microsoft payed Remedy Entertainment quite a bit of cash to get an exclusive release. This happens with a lot of games (Halo, God of War, Zelda, etc) if the game isn't owned by the company releasing the games (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft). 

On topic: This is just sad. very sad. This is just identical to the way that Apple has used a lot of Nokia's patents while Nokia has used quite a few Apple patents (although the situation is quite different since Nokia actually owns a major part of mobile phone patents because they actually did quite a lot of R&D in the 90's and 2000's). Hopefully they get the restriction lifted. If Sony gets screwed and the PS3 becomes a banned import in the EU (or anywhere else for that matter), it's all of you people who want to get a new release on the release date that gets screwed (including me).


-Qtis


----------



## bigpaws (Mar 1, 2011)

reminds me of WWII
sony is hitler
sony turns their back to fight piracy(russia)
sony gets pwnd by LG (brittain)
sony commits suiside


----------



## TheDarkSeed (Mar 1, 2011)

If they're at a stalemate for too long, they'll just be dumping money on these cases. and sony will lose a lot of potential revenue. from these ps3s being halted.

You know what would be a crazy twist? If Germany also put a halt on shipments.


----------



## EJames2100 (Mar 1, 2011)

Just a question, why now ?
Why not 5 years ago when it was released ?


----------



## BlueStar (Mar 1, 2011)

EJames2100 said:
			
		

> Just a question, why now ?
> Why not 5 years ago when it was released ?



Sony filed patent infringement complaints against LG last year, LG hit back with these claims.


----------



## MelodieOctavia (Mar 1, 2011)

TheDarkSeed said:
			
		

> If they're at a stalemate for too long, they'll just be dumping money on these cases. and sony will lose a lot of potential revenue. from these ps3s being halted.
> 
> You know what would be a crazy twist? If *Germany* also put a halt on shipments.
> 
> QUOTEEuropean customs



um...what?


----------



## boktor666 (Mar 1, 2011)

Will it never stop........


----------



## Law (Mar 1, 2011)

TwinRetro said:
			
		

> TheDarkSeed said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Well I'm pretty sure Germany is somewhere in Africa and nowhere near Europe, right?


----------



## MelodieOctavia (Mar 1, 2011)

Law said:
			
		

> TwinRetro said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Somewhere between Egypt and South Africa, right?


----------



## Joe88 (Mar 1, 2011)

Argentum Vir said:
			
		

> Maedhros said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


he plays the part of the broken record perfectly though


----------



## Maedhros (Mar 1, 2011)

Argentum Vir said:
			
		

> Maedhros said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


He does not want to argue, he's just trolling. His personal statement:
"If you take anything I say seriously you deserve to be trolled."
Why do anyone have to take what he says seriously?
I'm not trying to win nothing here.

There are two extreme type of oppinions: The fanboys and the haters. Why can't people just argue on the gray area?


----------



## narutofan777 (Mar 2, 2011)

i cant believe lg actually was able to do this, sony must be like wtf


----------



## twiztidsinz (Mar 2, 2011)

Maedhros said:
			
		

> There are two extreme type of oppinions: The fanboys and the haters. Why can't people just argue on the gray area?


People do argue in the 'gray area'... It's just the people on the extremes like to label anyone that isn't in 100% agreement with them as fanboy/hater.


----------



## machomuu (Mar 2, 2011)

twiztidsinz said:
			
		

> Maedhros said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ah...so the killer is the one whom you least expect.


----------



## Rydian (Mar 2, 2011)

EJames2100 said:
			
		

> Just a question, why now ?
> Why not 5 years ago when it was released ?


Because 5 years ago they wouldn't be able to claim that Sony's made (X amount of money) off of the systems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_ambush

EDIT: If they had done it right at the beginning they could have claimed something like "Sony's sold 5,000 systems with our technology, they owe us $5 per system!".  However if they waited until Sony sold millions...


----------



## KingVamp (Mar 2, 2011)

That a mess up way to get money. Knowing someone stole you tech and wait X years to say anything. 
You think the person/people who waited X years to say something be at fault. :/


----------



## Rydian (Mar 2, 2011)

The US patent system allows for lots of shit like this.

Hell, "Patent Troll" is an actual term.


----------

