Reason #673 why I now really f*cking hate Sony.

[blizeH]

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

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

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."

 

[Kyoji]

They'll be back.

 

[The Teej]

Uhh...did I just see the death of Lik-Sang? Damn...

Sony, you fucking suck. There was no need to absolutely destroy Lik-Sang. You assholes.

 

[Harsky]

Oh shi-. What a shame. I ordered Ouendan from them a while ago and they seemed like a real good company to deal with. I remember going to Hong Kong and trying to find their store which they were advertising on their site but it actually closed down.

 

[rezen]

I doubt it.

Man I fucking hate Sony.

 

[Deleted User]

Oh no! First play-asia stopped shipping PSP titles to europe and now that ...

I really hate Sony for doing these things! Good choice I already made the decision to never buy a $ony product again after they announced that the lawsuit will propably take liksang down and also that I immediately stopped buying games for my PSP (cancelled three pre-orders). Even better that I didn't buy that much games for my PSP in the first place!! Those goddamn morons! I'm about to smash this thing to pieces ...

 

[wohoo]

WTF DO THEY WANT?! i don't understand why they're so damn stupid sometimes :S

 

[Hitto]

This is really annoying. How can we not sound like sony haters whenever we comment on every INDUSTRY-WRECKING decision they take?

Sony, please, get the fuck out of video games.
Good bye, Lik-Sang, you sold me my GBAMP and tons of other fucking cool stuff

...

Okay, mourning's over, what other store will replace lik-sang?

PS : seriously, sony, die in a fire.

 

[Wuschmaster]

Sony is dead. Their image is below shit now.

 

[Kurumi]

That makes me so proud to have chipped my PS2 and burned over 150 games, it just sucks i can't really take a picture and fax it to Sony.

Honestly, Good luck on self-destruction Sony, you have a fantastic head-start.

 

[Shinji]

That makes me so proud to have chipped my PS2 and burned over 150 games, it just sucks i can't really take a picture and fax it to Sony.

Honestly, Good luck on self-destruction Sony, you have a fantastic head-start.

Whats stopping you?

Sony Europe has outspent Lik-Sang. Inform Jack Thompson, we have a new story on video game bullying...

 

[lagman]

Oh crap, there goes my sponsor XD

 

[Kurumi]

That makes me so proud to have chipped my PS2 and burned over 150 games, it just sucks i can't really take a picture and fax it to Sony.

Honestly, Good luck on self-destruction Sony, you have a fantastic head-start.


Whats stopping you?

Sony Europe has outspent Lik-Sang. Inform Jack Thompson, we have a new story on video game bullying...

The fact i don't have a digital camera ? XD And also the fact i'd rather not get arrested for that

It's cowardly, but i like my freedom

;;

 

[Hitto]

Closing down independant retailers should be banned from capitalism, and the only way we can make this heard is through boycott.
I stumbled upon a nice copy-pastable text we can all use while writing to our good friends at sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Thank you, Anonymous.

Hello sony,

It has come to my attention that your legal attacks against the online retailer lik-sang.com has lead to its closure. I had supported this retailer in the past, and some of their items lead me to purchase more sony products.

Due to your unethical legal attacks on them, I have decided to boycott your company. I have been a gamer for my entire life, so this is no small commitment.

I look forward to the games of your competitors, and hope you fail.

Of course, if you never were a customer, or don't want to boycott, disregard that, etc, etc.
I'm personally ashamed I bought Shadow of the Colossus. (it was a disappointing game anyway)

 

[larvi]

That's harsh and really is bad PR for Sony. I can understand them going after the mod-chip sellers but Lik-Sang had long since cleaned up their act in that regard. I hope that the ps3 takes a dive like the psp is doing, I for one will not be supporting Sony anymore.

 

[Kurumi]

That's harsh and really is bad PR for Sony. I can understand them going after the mod-chip sellers but Lik-Sang had long since cleaned up their act in that regard. I hope that the ps3 takes a dive like the psp is doing, I for one will not be supporting Sony anymore.

If i hear anyone saying Sony rocks, it's an automatic crotch kick from me

Some thinks it's good to look like asses, while others thinks it's better to help kids. I'l let everyone put names on that, shouldn't be hard

 

[skywarp]

It seems Sony would rather see people pirating their games than importing them, since that's the only possible effect this will have.

 

[Deleted User]

This is my (small) contribution to boycott Sony.

A part of my showcase before reading this:


The same part of my showcase after reading this:

 

[outphase]

If I understand the root of the lawsuit as well as I think I do, this is about securing SCEE's profits. It's a well known truth that Europe tends to get things later than say the US or Japan. Stores like Lik-Sang facilitate the sales of products not yet available to Europeans thus removing said sale from the European market.

The only way Sony could cleverly beat this is to hit Lik-Sang with so many lawsuits regardless of outcome so LS overspends on legal fees. Sony did what any big corporation would do... secure its profits.

From a legal standpoint, it was a genius strategy. From a consumer standpoint, I'm glad I never paid for a PSP (although I do have one via freepsps.com)

 

[adgloride]

Sony must be made of money to waste so much of it. Does Nintendo bother about people importing consoles NO!!! If Sony didn't want people to import the PSP why make all the games region free and add the english language to the Japanese version? When I got my Japanese PSP I also got an official Sony adapter complete with 3 pin plug

made especially for me to play it in the UK.

With all the pirated song memory sticks about you would thing they would be spending money combating that, its not like they never made any money of the Japanese PSPs when they were sold. I'm not going to buy the PS3 and suggest everyone else does the same. Hopefully lik-sang will open up again under a different name and won't sell any sony products.