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Gadgets Sony Denies Hand in Lik-Sang Shutdown
Marcus Yam (Blog) - October 24, 2006 6:35 PM
Print 37 comment(s) - last by Lord Evermore.. on Oct 25 at 7:45 PM
Sony says it's just another case of "sour grapes"

In the continuing saga of David and Goliath, Sony is denying any responsibility for the closure of Hong Kong-based e-tailer Lik-Sang.

Sony issued a statement to GamesIndustry.biz confirming its successful legal action against Lik-Sang, but denies that it had any direct effect on the website shutdown.

"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."

Sony also responded to the Lik-Sang's claim that SCEE employees, which were named in Lik-Sang's shutdown notice, participated in importing Japanese PSPs into Europe well before they were available in the territory.

Sony responded, "The purchasing of PSP consoles by SCE employees would be for investigatory purposes. We would also like to express our surprise at a company releasing personal information about its consumers, as this is contrary to data protection principles around the world."

The saga began last week when the UK High Court ruled that Lik-Sang's importation of Japanese PSPs to the UK and European Economic Area as illegal. The ruling could potentially set a precedent that would apply to all parties involved in importing a PlayStation 3 to Europe.

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Behind the curtain
By on 10/24/2006 10:01:04 PM , Rating: 3
As much as I've grown to dislike Sony in recent years, it does seem strange that Lik-Sang would claim that (potentially) losing one single island-nation market would push them off the financial cliff, especially since it seems Lik-Sang, a Hong Kong company, didn't even bother to spend money on lawyers to show up in defense of this case (in another country).

Something seems very strange about all this, almost as if Lik-Sang used this lawsuit as a cover to take an exit from the retail field because of other unspecified problems.

And who wants to put bets that Lik-Sang disbands, and shows up again in the near future under a new name and corporate identity.




RE: Behind the curtain
By Looni3 on 10/24/2006 10:24:03 PM , Rating: 5
Sony launched a lawsuit against Lik Sang from within every country in the entire EU.

If lik sang had chosen to defend themselves it would have incurred costs more crippiling than actually losing the case.


RE: Behind the curtain
By nomagic on 10/24/2006 11:04:44 PM , Rating: 3
If you cant stop them, you sue them...

This is how the industry works!


RE: Behind the curtain
By Griswold on 10/25/2006 4:38:35 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
Sony launched a lawsuit against Lik Sang from within every country in the entire EU.


Where did you read that? Even in the statement above, they only mention the lawsauit in the UK.


RE: Behind the curtain
By crystal clear on 10/25/2006 7:31:47 AM , Rating: 2
Its here for your reading on your home territory-

"Fighting multiple lawsuits in different countries at the same time and paying high premiums to expensive lawyers is an overwhelming situation for a small company like Lik-Sang. Launching separate court actions with separate claims and different judges is completely unnecessary, except for the fact that it helps reaching one single target: outspend Lik-Sang to death. 'Pay Beyond.'"

Source-Daily Tech
Sony Bans European Hardware Imports from Lik-Sang
Chris Peredun - October 20, 2006 3:23 PM




RE: Behind the curtain
By AnnihilatorX on 10/25/2006 9:34:14 AM , Rating: 2
The reason that Lik-Sang did not hire any lawyers is that they belive, being a Hong Kong company;
is that that they're based in Hong-Kong and thus are not liable to UK legislature.


RE: Behind the curtain
By crystal clear on 10/25/2006 9:41:33 AM , Rating: 2
They have a long track record/experience being pulled to court by many in the past years-SEE my post"WHAT A RESUME"

They know very well they are going to loose-"So why bother
appearing in court"


Sony really didn't do it???
By othercents on 10/25/2006 12:49:11 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid

I don't know about you, but if a company is unable to pay a judgment against them and sees that their only revenue is taken away then wouldn't it make sense for them to close their doors? Therefore this judgment of "substantial costs" along with the lawsuits that took away their revenue is the cause of the closure. Since Sony was the instigator on this I would tend to believe that Sony was the cause.

Ok well maybe not the way Sony thinks. Maybe they believe that they closed because they just where not able to make any money doing something illegal. Is Sony just trying to make things worse for themselves? It is like every move they make they get deeper into trouble.

Other




RE: Sony really didn't do it???
By feelingshorter on 10/25/2006 2:30:37 AM , Rating: 2
Lik-Sang is also at fault for releasing private information about its customers also. Thats could even be illegal, releasing private consumer information like that. Imagine if a website selling porno dvds released the names of all the people in politics that are buying them.


RE: Sony really didn't do it???
By BZDTemp on 10/25/2006 7:47:55 AM , Rating: 1
Illegal - come on. It's not like Lik Sang is a doctor or something like that.


RE: Sony really didn't do it???
By Aikouka on 10/25/2006 8:40:36 AM , Rating: 2
Typically the monicker of the day is that people will not sell your personal information, but they can sure as hell use it for marketting schemes and such. Usually in this case, you become a number such as "x amount of people bought y!"

Do I think releasing the information was a smart idea? Not really. Will those people get fired for what Lik-Sang and they thought was perfectly legal... you bet'cha. Poor people probably bought them for their kids... now daddy or mommy will be out of a job... just because they bought their kid a PSP before Sony would release them, because their corporate nazi establishment can't print boxes, manuals and create differing AC adapters fast enough to meet demand. Staggered releases really are horrid for the fanbase.


RE: Sony really didn't do it???
By othercents on 10/25/2006 11:40:54 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Lik-Sang is also at fault for releasing private information about its customers also.

I'm not disputing that fact. I'm only pointing out that Sony did play a major part in the shutdown of Lik-Sang.

Other


.
By hoppa on 10/25/06, Rating: 0
RE: .
By BladeVenom on 10/25/2006 1:22:53 AM , Rating: 2
Don't denigrate the female anatomy by comparing it to a sleazy bullying corporation like Sony.


RE: .
By FITCamaro on 10/25/06, Rating: -1
RE: .
By Aikouka on 10/25/2006 8:42:05 AM , Rating: 4
I think he wasn't being entirely serious with his comment. It's kind of like if I said someone was scum, but another person chimes in and says, "Hey, don't defame scum like that", which just means that I may've called the person scum, but the other guy thinks he's less than scum.

Comprende? :D


RE: .
By Alexvrb on 10/25/2006 12:33:03 PM , Rating: 2
Bingo! Or so one can only hope :P


RE: .
By BladeVenom on 10/25/2006 1:51:33 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly.


Data Protection?
By Ibrin on 10/25/2006 12:17:00 AM , Rating: 2
Sony says:
quote:
We would also like to express our surprise at a company releasing personal information about its consumers, as this is contrary to data protection principles around the world.

I don't know if this qualifies as "data protection." Their "data" didn't get hacked. Lik-Sang simply made public exactly how useful and successful their services were. You ever go into a restaurant and they have pictures of famous people who ate there? Seems like a similar thing to me. I don't think it's a breach of "data" to publicize famous customers, unless there is some expectatin of privacy (i.e., the Heidi Fleiss thing).

Besides, this seems like when Marvel Comics sued NCSoft over City of Heroes, saying that people had made Marvel characters in the game. During the trial it was disclosed that it was Marvel employees who had done it - and they had the right to do so. By and large, regular gamers had stayed away from the practice. And in that case, that piece of info had an impact.




RE: Data Protection?
By feelingshorter on 10/25/2006 3:00:46 AM , Rating: 2
There is a law that if you use someone else's picture or whatever for purposes related to $, you can be sued. You cannot compare Lik-Sang to this. When I buy something from newegg, I expect them to keep my information private. I would expect restaurant owners to ask those celebrities for their permission before posting them up.




RE: Data Protection?
By ghost101 on 10/25/2006 10:44:54 AM , Rating: 2
It also breaks the Data Protection Act in the UK and the Data Protection Directive in the EU. Lik Sang could've been sued by the Sony employees if they get sacked since they are bound by EU/UK law for all transactions for EU/UK cistomers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_protection_act

Unfortunately, revenge against Sony doesnt count as a specified purpose.


RE: Data Protection?
By ghost101 on 10/25/2006 10:48:31 AM , Rating: 2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_95/46/EC_on...

Again the usage of the data for relevant and legitimate purposes is clearly not the case here.


RIP Lik-Sang
By Assimilator87 on 10/24/2006 11:49:42 PM , Rating: 2
It's a shame that they closed down. They were one of the largest game importers. My last Dreamcast game was purchased from them.




RE: RIP Lik-Sang
By Alexvrb on 10/25/2006 12:40:24 PM , Rating: 2
Oh crap, there was at least one more DC game I needed to pick up too. Under Defeat.


What a RESUME
By crystal clear on 10/25/2006 8:27:31 AM , Rating: 4
Here are a few more Court cases-(in the past few years)

*Nintendo wins Lik-Sang piracy case,
Big damages
By gamesindustry.biz

*Lik-Sang settles mod chip case out of courtAppeal dismissed,
compensation paid,
promise made to be good in future
By gamesindustry.biz


*Lik-Sang changes hands, preps mod-chip court case
By gamesindustry.biz(27Nov 2002)

Lik-Sang, the Hong Kong based online retailer of videogames "accessories", is to hand over the running of its business to a company called Pacific Game Technology Limited, in a move designed to allow the current management of the company to focus on fighting its forthcoming court case against Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.


Unquote-

The above are just a FEW SAMPLES of this companies past
history-IT SHOWS HOW THEY DEAL-JUST every known company has
taken them to courts for various reasons & have succeeded in
sueing Lik Sang in courts.

Based on this TREND -ITS NO SURPRISE ,THEY SHUT DOWN.




This is illegal?
By Gooberslot on 10/25/2006 3:51:28 AM , Rating: 2
I don't know any of the details but if all they did was import game consoles then how can that be illegal?




RE: This is illegal?
By michal1980 on 10/25/06, Rating: -1
RE: This is illegal?
By Lord Evermore on 10/25/2006 7:36:51 PM , Rating: 2
Unless Lik-Sang has a presence in the UK, they didn't even actually "import" them. The customers import the product. Lik-Sang was exporting the product. The court decided to say "you aren't allowed to sell things to our citizens because our laws say that you can't sell things from other regions, even though you aren't even in this country.

A more valid way of making this law would be "Citizens of the UK are not allowed to purchase products from other countries if such products are being sold in a way that violates that countries laws" (this is basically what the US online gambling laws have done). THEN if Hong Kong had a law that said if Sony's contracts say you can't ship it elsewhere, then Hong Kong would be the place to sue.

All they've done is somehow created a legal enforcement of artificial market segregation.


A bit surprised
By kmmatney on 10/24/2006 11:46:02 PM , Rating: 2
I'm a bit surprised by the lawsuit, though. Lik-Sang catered to a very niche market. I doubt that they would have had a noticable effect on overall sales.




i already told you...
By pepsimax2k on 10/25/2006 5:33:47 AM , Rating: 2
sony, you get none of my money. lying to me makes no difference...




Source
By crystal clear on 10/25/2006 7:37:29 AM , Rating: 2
"Sony issued a statement to GamesIndustry.biz confirming its successful legal action against Lik-Sang, but denies that it had any direct effect on the website shutdown. "

Source-

RE: Justice for the buyers
By crystal clear on 10/22/06, Rating: 2
By crystal clear on 10/22/2006 4:09:10 AM , Rating: 2

"Lik-Sang loses PSP case in High Court"

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=...






Boycott Sony for this!!!
By robinthakur on 10/25/2006 8:28:44 AM , Rating: 1
I actually agree with the earlier poster in that the only way to describe Sony, is as miserable, petty, lying cunts. I have very fond memories of using Lik Sang's website ever since BEFORE Sony elbowed their way into the console industry and it has supplied an exotic range of games and accessories which simply are not easily available elsewhere on the internet. Lik Sang sold the goods for Private usage and not for resale and the only way that Sony could possibly tackle them is to sue them to death. I also believe the British judge in this case was incorrect. I'm very sorry that the industry as a whole puts up with Sony's behaviour and I can't wait until their PS3 falls flat on its arse the same way the PSP has. I for one will never buy another Sony product over this latest outrage. Not interconnects, LCD TV's, consoles, software or anything, and if you feel that this latest action is in no way fair or for anyone's advantage but Sony, I suggest you do the same.




We Just...
By feraltoad on 10/24/06, Rating: 0
Why is everyone blaming Sony?
By Loc13 on 10/25/06, Rating: -1
By Lord Evermore on 10/25/2006 7:45:40 PM , Rating: 2
I'd expect this decision might be applicable as precedent to pretty much everything that has any sort of regionalization.

Maybe they just got tired of dealing with lawyers and companies suing the hell out of anybody that dares to give users a choice which doesn't actually affect profits and are throwing in the towel.


Can we bitch, moan and whine ANY more about Sony?
By dug777 on 10/25/06, Rating: -1
By BZDTemp on 10/25/2006 3:58:15 AM , Rating: 2
You don't get it do you. Lik Sang has been a great source of exotic games, accesories and also consoles prior to their local release.

For example I bought the DS and the PSP from LikSang and recieved thoose a long time before their european release plus even saved some money.

Basicly this is about freedom of choice. Why should SONY be allowed to control what I can buy if it's not their shop. With SONY putting Lik Sang out of business they have really angered a lot of hard core gamers.


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