Lik-Sang.com shut down by Sony lawsuits
By Paul Miller 
posted October 24th 2006 12:21PM
posted October 24th 2006 12:21PM
Dear Lik-Sang.com,We hear your recent legal spat with Sony Computer Entertainment has ended your long and glorious run as grey market importer of choice, sapping both your resources and potential revenue streams. You were always there for us when we needed a DS lite before it hit the States, or a Japan-only karaoke-based cooking game that might've otherwise never made its way into our hands, and we're sorry to see you taken down by "The Empire" in such a dramatic fashion. If it's any consolation, it looks like the very Sony Europe execs that just busted you for supposedly infringing on their "trade marks, copyright and registered design rights," won't be able to import whatever fancy consoles Sony Japan busts out next, since most of 'em got their PSPs via you last time around. But of course, Europeans really "don't mind" waiting for Sony products, so maybe the point is moot. Anyways, you will be missed Lik-Sang, but never forgotten -- also, would you mind hooking us up with some Pokemon Diamond on your way out?
Thanks,
Engadget
[Thanks, Mark A.]
It's sad but true. I'm a business owner in the US; I sell aftermarket motorcycle performance products.
Copyright infringement is a serious issue and I know in detail of the rules and regulations/policies set forth by the products we sell from various manufacturers. I was involved in a copyright infringement complaint from a reseller in the UK. The reseller noticed my auction on ebay and took action and my auction was stricken. I never did that again as I understood the concern of the UK reseller; he/she couldn't touch my US prices...as we all know UK prices on goods when converted to US dollars is almost double.
Keeping this in mind, manufacturers have their own set of rules and regulations/policies to protect indigenous companies.
I guess in this case, Lik-Sang began to undercut plenty of UK video game resellers; with their sales plummeting you can bet there were lots of phone calls/emails to Sony either directly from UK resellers or from their distributors to try to put a halt into Lik Sang trying to get a piece of the pie in the UK or anywhere else in the world (besides China of course).
Sure you can blame Sony, but the ones that got the ball rolling were Lik-Sang's competitors from all over the world, and they had every right to be pissed.
Sure Gray Market isn't illegal, but you have to be doing business in the country you are importing to as you will be subject to the same taxes and laws with everyone else to even the playing field.
It won't end with Lik-Sang; when you have a lot of resellers complaining about one particular reseller not playing fair then it could get ugly. I've had my run in with distributors lecturing me on regulations when I infringed on someones intellectual rights to sell a product in their country so I understand fully about why Lik-Sang had to cease sales for now.
Sony fucking sucks. Why the hell would they be doing this shit? I'm not gonna use any fucking Sony appliances until liksang is back on
The stinking grassfucker's are not having my money.
I used to get presents from my brother how got them from this site
and now thanks to sony i can forget my games!!!
so f*ck you sony you can forget that I'm going to bay your ps3
Lik-Sang I love you guys You will come back I hope
when sony is eliminated
The only reason $ony shut down lik sang is because they couldn't handle the competion. We need lik sang to save us (not me though. I boycott sony) when our sony products break, and we need something to replace it with better quality! Oh my god, they killed Lik Sang. You Bastards!
Frigging lame...
My cousin wanted me to get him a Smart Joy Dual USB Adapter like mine, guess I won't be doing that now. "Encouraging illegal activity such as console emulation" They could be using it to play PC Madden for all you know, dicks... f0ck you, Sony and your 600 some dollar console. And screw Wii and Gametap too. Where's all the cool unreleased games like Seiken Denestsu 3 that us gaijins never got to buy??? Not on Wii, I bet!!!
Lik Sang is a geat company, they are providing what the consumer (us) wanted. Pure Economics: Demand and Supply. Any control such as prevention of this system, is price setting which is illegal i reckon.
I do not have a big knowledge of blogs, but i think such information on Sony handling should be blogged and share with many other willing consumers like us
This... Fucking... Infuriates me.
That's it then,I won't be getting any games for a reasonable price anymore. Lik sang was my only sanctuary for imported games at a reasonable price... WITH NO SHIPPING COSTS
Thanks alot Sony,rude buggers. You know,I even bothered getting a PSP. But I almost want to throw it out of the window right now.
What's the use of it when I can't buy the games I want?
PS2 was great,PSP is nice to have on the go. Sony had the doors open infront of them,all the nice games released and their success,just to slam the door right infront of the people,and infront of themselves.
I'm definetly sticking to Nintendo Wii
May PS3 burn in hell and let Sonys Directors/Employees and so on realise their mistakes and withdraw their legal actions.
all i got to say is FUCK YOU SONY. SIMPLY FUCK YOU SONY. So far the pplaystation hasnt been doing so well and i hope it fuckin is a failure. Please boycott sony and go for Microsoft's Xbox 360 or the Nintendo Wii. Atleast Microsoft or Nintendo dont try to but companies smaller than them out of business. Lik-Sang was my source of the latest accessories and stuff not released globally. Lik-Sang...you will be missed. FUCK YOU SONY...Y DONT YOU GO SHOVE A FUCKIN PS3 UP UR ASSES.
Sony could be great. They chose to tread a dark and ill advised path. One of their responses to piracy has been to effectively sabotage their own equipment, in a futile attempt to stop people from copying music. My cousin bought a portable Sony Minidisc player, which allowed you to upload tracks from your pc at lightning speeds. I wanted to get one really badly (I already have an ordinary MD player but you have to record in real time, so the idea of near instant track input seemed like heaven). The only problem was, well, if I have to sum it up in one word it would have to be - Sony. They had a copy protection system in place, which allowed you to upload tracks from PC to minidisc but only allowed you to go the opposite way (minidisc to pc) once, before blocking you from making anymore copies. Even if you recorded original material from a microphone, it was still subject to this, effectively making it useless for the purpose I wanted the minidisc player, which was recording my band, and saving copies to my, and my fellow band members computers. Not only that, but I don't even see how this stops piracy, as far as I can see it doesn't. This is only one of the many reasons why Sony are now officially evil bastards. They will only be redeemed when they decide to stop treating every customer like a potential criminal. I bought a PSP, mainly because they are good for playing videos, have a nice big screen, but it is plagued by sony's stupid anti-emulator firmware upgrades. Yup, another instance of them shooting themselves in the foot. Imagine if programmers could make PSP applications and Sony embraced this. It would definitely have positive effects on PSP sales. It's a terrible shame about Lik-sang. Maybe we should start an anti-sony hate campaign, I'm sure there are a lot of pissed off people out there, there's certainly one here.
Oh Boo Hoo Stupid little anti Sony Fucktards.
Sony Computer Entertainment is allowed to demand and (by force) Stop Lik-sang from selling their products without permission.
they had a good reason with the whole PS3 thing.
Microsoft is the true asshole company, for fuck sakes are you niggaz blind?
theres allways other ways to get shit lik sang used to sell at other places on the net for an even better price.
Lik-sang still can have a possibility of Reviving and restarting like Napster did.
So In the meantime you Emo Fanboy Bitches need to Take Steve Moore's and Mario's dick out your ass and mouth and get a Fuckin Life outside of Bitching about Business.