PS3 importing declared illegal by Sony

Sony has announced that importing PS3s without their permission is illegal. To enforce this, Sony has the recent victory in a lawsuit against Lik-Sang, who was importing PSPs. In this case, Judge Michael Fysh found that Lik-Sang was in breach of intellectual property rights when it sold Japanese PSPs to European consumers.

"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."

With the PS3 launch still months away for Europe, many people will want to import a PS3 from Japan or North America. So if it is in your plans, it might be a good idea to reconsider.

http://www.ps3land.com/article-868.php