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Gaming Retailer Lik-Sang closes down due to Sony Lawsuits

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The world of video game importers received a crushing blow on Tuesday as Lik-Sang,
purveyors of all that is the Asian video game scene, closed their doors in the face of
multiple Sony lawsuits.

Sony filed lawsuits concerning the sales of Asian market Playstation Portable (PSP) units
in the UK and Europe last August (2005). The London High Court came to their decision in
the matter only a few days prior to Lik-Sang's closure. Lik-Sang had this to say about
their forced closure (Mind not the scrambled English):

Today is Sony Europe's 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. (…)

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.

The press release from which this quote came is followed by hundreds, maybe thousands, of
angry comments by former Lik-Sang customers. Sony had this to say in response to the
release:

Lik-Sang did not contest this case. We have been awarded substantial costs against
Lik-Sang which have not been paid. 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.

Many have found that this ruling by the British court system may contravene with European
Union law, stating that parallel trade (which is what this particular instance is called)
is perfectly lawful. It is unknown whether the EU Judicial System will intervene.

As for Lik-Sang customers, the company has assured that any and all pending orders and
store credit will be refunded in hopes that no innocent parties get caught in the
crossfire.

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