Importing a PS2, PSP or PS3 into the EU without permission from SCE is illegal.
Sony is laying down the law in regards to importing its consoles - doing so without their permission is against the law. The news follows Sony's court victory over online retailer Lik-Sang in a case concerning the grey importing of the PSP. Judge Michael Fysh found that Lik-Sang was in breach of intellectual property rights when it sold Japanese PSPs to European consumers.
Sony is taking a firm stance on importing and looks set to follow up actions it took over the PSP all over again for the launch of the PS3.
Advertisement"The law is clear; grey importing PS2, PSP or PS3 into the EU, without the express permission of SCE is illegal. Therefore, we will utilise the full scope of the law to put a stop to any retailers who chose to do this," a Sony rep said to GamesIndustry.biz. "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."
There's no doubt that PlayStation 3 imports will be in high demand in Europe, given that North America and Japan get the console in November, which is likely to be at least four months prior to the PlayStation 3 launch in Europe. What actions Sony takes to prevent PS3 importing is yet to be seen, but the platform holder has already shown that it's more than willing to take the matter to the courts.
NekoFever wrote at 14:26 on 19 October 2006
Maybe someone should point out that price fixing is also illegal. I can't think of any other term for selling it here at a 33% price increase while preventing people from buying it cheaper abroad.
Bert eth phish wrote at 14:38 on 19 October 2006
Didn't a certain jeans company loose their battle with the EU over trying to ban grey imports of their products? Funny how Sony can then claim that its OK from their point of view.
Fluppet wrote at 14:39 on 19 October 2006
So the Japanese PS3s arn't compatible with PS1 & PS2 games then according to the Sony rep?
I would suspect its just bad wording by the rep but then again you never know with them lot.
bencrosaby wrote at 16:05 on 19 October 2006
idiots. they r idiots r sony. i gettin wii!
Mr M wrote at 16:50 on 19 October 2006
I think the point they are trying to make is to stop retailers importing and then re-selling into the EU. However as the law stands an individual can import thw console providing you pay the relevant import duties and Sony can do NOTHING.
Ashley wrote at 11:48 on 20 October 2006
Surely Not
I cant believe this, surely, they cant stop people from bringing them over after they went on holiday or buying them off ebay. Maybe they shouldnt screw the european market with extremely high prices compared to the rest of the world then there would be no need to import them.
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Computar wrote at 12:07 on 20 October 2006
Actually it makes quite a bit of sense, the average user will not know anything about region functionality and chances are someone is going to be importing it into the EU and then auctioning it off to the highest bidder.
Not to mention, if you do buy the PS3 imported from another country you have absolutely no guarantee that it's actually going to work.
I'm in the US and I plan on buying it at release but one benefit the EU might have is that they can wait and see how good/bad the console is before they buy it. And who knows they might update the hardware before it gets to you guys.
Oh and I guess the reason that it's more expensive in the EU is due to the fact that there are so many countries/languages that have to be dealt with, in terms of marketing, manufacturing, etc, which drives up cost quite a bit. The US is a really big buyer and only one language needs to be supported so marketing should be much cheaper.
big d wrote at 12:08 on 20 October 2006
big companies get rich of the little people because we are dumb enough to pay the asking price. good luck to those who can get the ps3 cheaper abroard. lets boycott the european ps3 and see how they like to be screwed. i know i won't be buying my kids one. sony's pockets are full enough!!!!
no way no how wrote at 12:20 on 20 October 2006
get real.
the price on the ps3 is way too high. the new controllers use rechargeable batteries made by sony? how long is it going to be before ps3 controllers start bursting into flames like laptop computers? i think when i upgrade from my ps2 in january that i'm gonna be switching platforms. hello xbox360.
Akila wrote at 12:24 on 20 October 2006
If you read it carefully, you'll see SCE used old IP arguments against Lik-Sang
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judge Michael Fysh found that Lik-Sang was in breach of intellectual property rights when it sold Japanese PSPs to European consumers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because under WTO trade regulations it is illegal to not allow a WTO member and it's citizens to buy items from another WTO member state.
In fact industry asked for this and then went ahead and ignored the whole ideal. For instance region encoding on DVD's is illegal, but nobody has bothered taking the industry to court (exactly who would you take to court and how much money would they have to snow you down with).
Martin wrote at 12:35 on 20 October 2006
Safety? Voltage?
So they say the PS3 has a sucky power brick outside Europe and a good one in Europe? Or that they don't use one that can adapt to different voltages? (I haven't see one of those for years) *LOL*
Nice "arguments" why this is really only for the customer's advantage and not about Sony's profit...
slight wrote at 13:52 on 20 October 2006
IP infringement
The actual issue was that Lik Sang was using the Sony trademarks in selling the device, and the judge ruled that they couldn't advertise with the trademarks without Sony's permission. OR at elast something to that effect.
It's not illegal to import.
Anonymous wrote at 14:19 on 20 October 2006
Consistency?
Yet in australia mod chips were ruled legal to let people play overseas games as Sony was price fixing for the local market.
Really, it must depend on the day of the week and judge for some of these rullings.
Buy a Wii or 360 instead.
bencrosaby wrote at 14:52 on 20 October 2006
Listen 2 this guy!
Joe wrote at 17:57 on 20 October 2006
This really makes sense. Who in europe wants a system that can't connect to any PAL sets, play any or your existing DVD's and my not play european BR disks?
In addition the machines will have no warranty since the gray machines will be physically different from the NA machines you would need to ship it to america or japan to get in warranty service.
Europeans seems to be pretty uppity about being able to get machines that work in their regions and that can be fixed if there is an issue. Consumers in Europe will blame Sony for any issues from these gray machines. Consumers in europe will HATE Sony if they can not get warrinty service on their gray machine.
By not crachiking down Sony become implicity liable in Europe for any issues that arrise due to imported machines.
Anonymous wrote at 07:26 on 19 November 2006
So what happened to the concept of free trade?Should that not apply to the consumer as well as the big multinational? It's my money and a global economy so don't tell me what I can't do with it!
Anonymous wrote at 21:12 on 29 January 2007
Pure BS
I just noticed a 20GB console on Yesasia for £254. I was hoping to buy it, until I saw this note:
"This product will not be shipped to any countries in the European Economic Area (EEA)."
The 20GB version won't even be available in the UK, and the 60GB model will cost £450. Sony are just trying to grab as much money as possible.
Whatever happened to free trade?