Are big companies evil? Some people think so and many news items will contribute to these thoughts. Today another one, according to a press release on Lik-Sang.com is Sony sueing the company because it sells PSP devices to European countries. Sony is trying to launch its portable Playstation device in stages. First it was only available in Japan, then Americans could enjoy this little nifty machine and when it was up to Sony, the Europeans could play on the device after these continents were served. However Lik-Sang, one of the biggest online stores that sells games and all kinds of gaming related devices also shipped the devices to Europe before the official planned release of Sony. And now Sony is pissed, so to say.
Sony further claims copyright infringement and damages by mirroring the freely available PSP manual on the news section of Lik-Sang.com during early June. Sony UK warned Lik-Sang.com at June 14 to take legal actions, should the manual and any hypertext links to Sony's web site not be removed. Lik-Sang.com complied with Sony's request to remove the manual immediately. This lawsuit comes as a total surprise to Lik-Sang.com, given that the laws of Hong Kong are clear when it comes to parallel trade. Hong Kong's legislation is based on the fact that allowing parallel and free trade will restore natural competition and benefit consumers with lower prices. Hong Kong, one of the pioneering countries respecting worldwide exhaustion of trademark rights, allows free trade once an item entered the market for sale. |
It seems that the globalisation of the planet is something big companies should get used to. If consumers don't get their stuff in their own continent they will simply get them from some place else. This of course unfortunate to the companies as it goes against their planned strategy. On the other hand, the mass market will not import the devices anyway, it's probably the hardcore gamers that want these kind of things first.
Source: Lik-Sang
