Author: Dan Dickinson

Categories
Debated

Lik-Sang Shuts Down

[Another importer bites the dust](http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901):

>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.

It’s sad to see importers go – but, I’m not going to be shedding too many tears here.

>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”.

This was Sony’s argument, and it was enough for the courts. Lik Sang, sadly, is determined to flame out:

>”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.

I would like to re-emphasize: *beginning of the end of the World as we know it*. I don’t think I need to point out the ridiculousness of equating the “end of the World” to an import shop closing. There are still plenty of others open.

But it’s not just enough to pretend that this is the apocalypse; after all, Sony bashing is all the rage this fall:

>”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.”

Spare me the “shameful track record” nonsense, especially since it was obvious that they still wanted to profit off of selling Sony’s products.

Perhaps Lik-Sang has forgotten that [Nintendo also successfully sued them](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/06/19/nintendo_wins_liksang_piracy_case/) in 2003 for selling flash carts. Or that [Microsoft also successfully sued them](http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,2123307,00.htm) in 2002 for selling Xbox mod chips.

Lik-Sang has been on the shitlist of all three console makers for years.

**EDIT 1**: Ars [points out](http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061024-8061.html) that “It also didn’t help that Lik-Sang lacked representation at those hearings.” Mind-boggling. I certainly don’t agree with Sony suing importers, but if you’re going to get sued, you might want to send at least one lawyer.

EDIT 2: [Here’s the judgement](http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2006/2509.html); indeed, Lik-Sang did not appear.

EDIT 3: [Sony responds](http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=20564); they mention that not only did Lik-Sang not show up (thus, no legal costs), but they also have not yet paid the damages.

Categories
Recommended

Steve Garvey Celebrity Requiem: Cheap Seats Is Dead

The word has come from AST: [Cheap Seats](http://www.cheapseats.tv/) will be [no more after this season](http://www.aspecialthing.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=75864#75864).

Allow me this moment; the show has provided me so many late night laughs, it’s hard to fathom that I’ll have to face next season without it.
In the end, Cheap Seats will have lasted [77 episodes](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0397769/episodes) – more than I think anyone could’ve expected from a show on at a ridiculously late hour on a channel that doesn’t have wide distribution. You’ve done good, Sklars.

There are five new episodes left. If you’d like to watch the finale, it will air on ESPN Classic at 11:30 PM on – as if a date could be more fitting given my interests – November 20th.

Categories
Recommended

Things I Have Been Enjoying Lately

I have been enjoying Jon Glaser. The name may be unfamiliar for people not in NYC, but you have likely heard his work – be it on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Cheap Seats, Wonder Showzen, Conan O’Brien, or School For Scoundrels. Glaser is what has been described as a “comedian’s comedian”, doing characters and bits that lead to highbrow discussions like “What is comedy?” and “What the fuck was that?”. I did not warm up to Glaser when I first saw him in 2003 – but slowly, gradually, I have understood his genius. I bring him up now not because of his excellent turn as Johnny Ding-Dong during the Comedians Of Comedy tour, but for his mindfudging of Trevor, the wily scamp from Wonder Showzen’s “Beat Kids”. If you have the Season 2 DVD – and you should – watch the “featurette” for the Knowledge episode. For more, I recommend reading [his AST fanthread](http://www.aspecialthing.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1664).

While I am only one third of the way through it, I have been enjoying the audiobook version of John Hodgman’s [The Areas Of My Expertise](http://areasofmyexpertise.com/), which is unsurprisingly [available from iTunes](http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=182994253&s=143441). Hodgman’s way with facts, combined with occasional musical enhancement from [Johnathan Coulton](http://www.jonathancoulton.com/), is like listening to a very pleasant NPR show, were it written by non-partisan Stephen Colbert.

I have really been enjoying [The AV Club](http://avclub.com/), as they’ve become very good with interviews, always have intriguing features like *Random Rules*, and fair critiques and reviews.

Relatedly, I have been enjoying the mobile versions of [The Onion](http://mobile.theonion.com/) and [The AV Club](http://mobile.avclub.com/). Both load very quick, have full content for the week, and aren’t a cheap RSS-hacked-river-of-news-bullshit mobile page. Works great on my Sidekick 3 and my Treo.

I’ve been enjoying MC Chris’ latest album, [Dungeon Master Of Ceremonies](http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=184802407&s=143441). I got to see Chris do most of the songs live at UCB – which was an experience in itself – but the album is really far more solid than I expected. There are at least three standout songs (*FTW*, *Wiid*, and *Townie*), and the album on a whole has a nice, almost danceable groove to it.

The third season of The Office has been enjoyable enough to add into my standard television rotation, bringing the number of shows I regularly watch up to 4. It is amusing to go back and read the [Metafilter impressions of the first episodes](http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/40851), much like reading Slashdot’s original iPod post.

Despite being only a few minutes into the first one, I am extremely enamored by [JapanesePod101](http://www.japanesepod101.com/), a podcast that teaches you a few Japanese phrases a day. I am downloading them as fast as I can.

I am enjoying the fact that [GSN](http://www.gsn.com/) finally made their play-along-at-home games platform neutral. It’s nice to be able to play from home, even if there are a large number of cheaters.