Sony's Win a Major Blow for Importers 200
Joan Cross writes "Sony won a battle in the UK Courts over the importing to Europe of Playstation Portables by Lik Sang. They say 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'. Of course, the PSP comes supplied with a 100-240v adapter which is safe worldwide. Lik Sang has posted their reaction to the court decision. Could be bad news for those wanting PS3 Consoles on import."
Fixed it (Score:5, Insightful)
'Ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that is cheaper than what can be bought locally'
Simple solution..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Globalization (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the same issue you already see DVD region encoding, and with digital music services: people complaining about albums being available in some countries and not others when everyone is getting their tunes from a server on the Internet.
In the future corporations are going to need to stop thinking they can easily dictate the geographical spread of their goods and start thinking of their product launches as a worldwide event. The entertainment industries need to stop setting up distribution deals for invidual regions and make their deals for global availablity. If they don't they will only see their products pasisng through black-market channels and piracy rings more readily instead of generating more revenue for them.
Motives (Score:5, Insightful)
If they'd just say, "We brought this action to ensure that us and only us get to squeeze every last penny-worth of value out of our product and we don't have to share with anyone"... perhaps not a flowers-and-rainbows kinda sentiment but sheesh at least it'd be honest!
Re:Sony's Simple solution..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Thinking of legal ways around this (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Globalization (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not the time difference that gets me. It's the difference in price.
I have to compete directly for jobs with people in India, China, Eastern Europe and anywhere else you can outsource IT to. This impacts the amount I can earn, and my chances of getting a job in the first place.
However, I am forced by EU/UK law to pay a higher price for goods, as demonstrated by this court case.
Frankly this pisses me off. I'm getting fucked over both ways.
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:3, Insightful)
That's not a very honest representation of what's happening here. The EU has rules in place whereby electronic consumer goods have to be certified for safety, non-interference etc. Other major jurisdictions have similar rules, but different for each jurisdiction. Sony themselves have to meet the legal standards before they can import their products to the EU. Shouting 'foul' when someone else tries to bypass those requirements is not unreasonable.
You may now return to your regular Sony bashing.
Friends dont let friends buy Sony (Score:4, Insightful)
I now wonder if Sony are monitoring me. They certainly are modding these posts flaimbait consistently.
Are they going through my thrash, and obtaining my phone records as well?
Anyway I boldly repeat here again:
Much of the money you spend buying Sony gear goes to support anti consumer efforts from DRM, Infected CD's, Unusable due to DRM Blu-Ray HD-DVD. They may actually help kill the entire HD DVD effort.
Fellow
So much for open markets (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm dubious of any true safety concerns. Does Sony want it shouted that: Sony sells unsafe PS3's everywhere in the world except the UK, because only UK law won't allow it!
If the PS3 is truly unsafe, are they going to be stopping travelers returning from other markets overseas and siezing their lawfully purchased PS3 consoles on safety concerns? I doubt it.
The only way you'll fix this in the UK is by a vote for people who will reliably overturn laws that screw the consumers at large to artifically protect monopolies. Should we shout, Is anyone in the UK listening?
What am I doing for my part? Not voting for John Kyl who instituted the Internet Gaming Ban in the USA, and had to sneak it through as part of another, more important, bill because no one wanted their vote on record over this issue.
Who else here in Slashdot land is doing their part, no matter how small, this year?
Re:Motives (Score:3, Insightful)
If they'd said anything like that, it'd be in the headlines a *lot* more places than it currently is... Stick to the formula, and it's not newsworthy outside Slashdot and other niche sources.
Let's break this down (Score:3, Insightful)
"Ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from ..
- The PSP has a power supply for 100 - 240V, I'm told, and besides let's not pretend that Sony doesn't have to build all its various Playstations to be acceptable worldwide, shall we?
"is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software"
- again, similar situation all around the world, what does this have to do with anything?
"will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs"
- because YOU built in restrictions to fuck us over with!
"and will not be covered by warranty."
- strictly by your own decision, there's nothing to prevent you extending the manufacturer's warranty i.e. another way by which to fuck us over.
Perhaps a subtlety on the last point might be an expectation that a faulty unit would have to be returned to the importer - but that's the buyer's choice / risk to take. And it would be interesting if "grey" importers then found it profitable to set up local offices in rip-off parts of the world.
You know, in financial and commodity markets the principle of arbitrage is pretty well accepted. There's just no damn reason why manufacturers like Sony should be allowed to create articifical barriers to otherwise well accepted market mechanisms. As has been pointed out elsewhere, as long as people have to suck it up and bear it with market effects like outsourcing, the corporates shouldn't be able to give themselves exemptions.
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:4, Insightful)
This is how it's supposed to work right.
Let me tell you how it really works: you vote with your wallet as an example citizen and don't buy one. For every single one like you, there's 100 guys/girls who are either PSP junkies, just don't care, just don't know, or whatever, so they'll buy one.
End result: Sony will never feel your vote, and you don't have a PSP.
Yea, it's sad like that, but... after all, this is the main principle of capitalism: the market decides. And it comprises of all people, not just Sony haters.
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:2, Insightful)
Ballot Box
Soap Box
Jury Box
Ammo Box.
Use in that order.
Just like U.S./Canadian Drugs (Score:5, Insightful)
It's funny, this is the same thing happens with pharmaceuticals in the U.S. The industry doesn't want people importing Canadian drugs (which are much cheaper) and one thing mentioned is that they have concern the drugs do not meet U.S. quality standards.
I have yet to hear anyone ask if that's true doesn't that mean they are giving Candaians sub-quality prescription drugs. You think there would be a Canadian-consumer uproar with such simple logic.
Re:What about Japanese exporters? (Score:5, Insightful)
But it turns out that the U.S. has a similar policy w/regards to IP.
The reasoning is that the unauthorized sales violates rights held by licensed distributors of the product, regardless of the legalities behind the (grey market) ownership & sale of the items in question.
http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2005/05/is-there
The doctrine of first sale only applies to goods made in countries which have such a doctrine. Basically, if Sony has a distributor network set up, you (as a company) cannot circumvent that network. I imagine it isn't a problem if your cousin/friend/other in China or Japan mails you one.
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Globalization (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:5, Insightful)
But marketshare is everything. On what do you think those 1% of potential buyers who are upset with Sony's business practices are going to spend their money? Probably a Wii or Xbox 360.
Furthemore, ask yourself, who is the type of person that is going to care so much as to take a stand like you describe? Knowledgeable people, which others probably look to for buying advice. Sure the beancounters may think they're maximizng profit by screwing over 1% of their custmoers, but what if that 1% are game reviewers, gamestore clerks, vocal bloggers, or just helpful friends of casual gamers?
It's easy to just throw up your hands in despair when it coems to things like this, but the fact is: everything you do matters--even if you never realize just how. If it means that much to you and you think you're right, take a stand. You never know what might happen.
-Grym
Re:Just like U.S./Canadian Drugs (Score:1, Insightful)
That's because no one with a bit of sense would ever believe that. Canadian quality standards for drugs are just as strict as the US counterparts; the exact same drugs are shipped to canadian pharmacies as to US pharmacies. The only difference is that there are laws in Canada that limit what the drug companies can charge. It's a bit like saying "either you sell your drugs here for less than x, or you don't sell them at all".
The fact that the drug companies still choose to sell their drugs in canada at vastly reduced prices says a lot about how much profit they make selling them in the US.
Re:Globalization (Score:2, Insightful)
Of course it's cheaper to sell things there. However, when the cheaper labour and operating costs result in a foreign retailer being able to offer me identical goods to a local one at a lower total price (including postage and import duty) then I am still legally prevented from taking advantage of this. I am being forced to pay a higher price or go without.
Since corporate profits come from offshoring their labour costs, let me hurt their profits by offshoring my purchasing. And if that fucks up the economy then I have a simple answer, and it involves employing local people.
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Um, people were voting with their wallets, buying a product from Lik-Sang. Now the government says you have to buy the product from Sony.
That plainly falls within the realm of coercive interference in the market.
Re:Globalization (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not holding up very well now. Interestingly it's often the same multinational corporations who are pro "globalization" and "free trade" when it means they can pick and choose the cheapest places of the planet to manufacture who kick up the most fuss (typically in the courts) when their customers (both individuals and retail companies) try and do something similar.
In the future corporations are going to need to stop thinking they can easily dictate the geographical spread of their goods and start thinking of their product launches as a worldwide event. The entertainment industries need to stop setting up distribution deals for invidual regions and make their deals for global availablity.
When it comes to movies and TV/radio the regional distribution model has actually been dead for quite some time. Sometimes TV programmes have even been available "by other means" before their broadcast. Even if this dosn't happen they will be available within a short time of their initial broadcast.
People are not going to wait weeks, months (even years) to watch, effectivly any wait longer than 48 hours encourages "piracy". When it comes to speedy global distribution things are in some cases worst than they were a quarter of a century ago, dispite advances in communications technology.
Welcome to rip-off Britain (Score:3, Insightful)
For example, in the UK a Nintendo DS costs £110 with your choice of one crappy game. In Japan, the DS is around 16,000 yen, or about £71. That's £40 cheaper, less than 60% of the UK price. Sure, no free game, but £40 can buy you three new games for the DS.
The free game is either just a way of making price comparison impossible ("Sorry, we can't price match so-and-so because it's a different package") or adding "value" to an overpriced product, without costing the retailer much. In fact, you are helping the retailer to dump unsaleable stock.
Re:Simple solution..... (Score:1, Insightful)
In the post 9-11 world you don't have four boxes, you have:
You still have the ammo box and the best you will get out of it is a bullet for your head.
And that's the USA, democratic traditions are much weaker in most of the rest of the world. On the other hand some of us outside still have ballot boxes, but what use are they with converged mass media?
Re:What's Up with Sony? (Score:3, Insightful)
They don't care how much it costs, they don't care about rootkits, and they certainly don't care if the CEO makes them into sheep. They want Final Fantasy, they want the PS3.
You are wrong to think that people won't buy this because of Sony's past behavior, they indeed will buy it. It's easy to decry it here on
My 2 cents.
Vox