Important Notice: Lik-Sang.com Out of Business due to Multiple Sony Lawsuits
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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."
